Spectral excitations of ultracold gases of bosonic atoms trapped in one-dimensional optical lattices with disorder are investigated by means of the variational cluster approach applied to the Bose-Hubbard model. Qualitatively different disorder distributions typically employed in experiments are considered. The computed spectra exhibit a strong dependence on the shape of the disorder distribution and the disorder strength. We compare alternative results for the Mott gap obtained from its formal definition and from the minimum peak distance, which is the quantity available from experiments.
Spectral excitations of ultracold gases of bosonic atoms trapped in one-dimensional optical lattices with disorder are investigated by means of the variational cluster approach applied to the Bose-Hubbard model. Qualitatively different disorder distributions typically employed in experiments are considered. The computed spectra exhibit a strong dependence on the shape of the disorder distribution and the disorder strength. We compare alternative results for the Mott gap obtained from its formal definition and from the minimum peak distance, which is the quantity available from experiments.
Spectral properties of the two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model, which emulates ultracold gases of atoms confined in optical lattices, are investigated by means of the variational cluster approach. The phase boundary of the quantum phase transition from Mott phase to superfluid phase is calculated and compared to recent work. Moreover the single-particle spectral functions in both the first and the second Mott lobe are presented and the corresponding densities of states and momentum distributions are evaluated. A qualitatively similar intensity distribution of the spectral weight can be observed for spectral functions in the first and the second Mott lobe.
Ultracold bosonic gases in optical lattices are strongly correlated quantum systems similar to solids. The strong correlation between the electrons in a solid on the one hand, and the bosonic atoms in optical lattice on the other, exhibit various quantum phenomena like insulation, conductivity, localization of electrons and atoms, respectively. Controlled by the intensity of the lattice laser, the ultracold bosonic gas can be transferred from a regime with superfluid character for shallow lattices into a regime of strong correlations, the Mott insulator. As an additional external parameter besides the lattice depth, one can generate spatial inhomogeneities by superimposing an additional standing wave (so-called two-color superlattices), which gives rise to localization effects or the formation of a Bose-glass phase. In the present work, numerical simulations are employed in order to investigate characteristic signatures of the quantum phases in the low-energy excitation spectrum of one-dimensional systems. We simulate temporal small amplitude modulations of the optical lattice in analogy to experiments, and evaluate the response of the system from the time-evolved initial state. The lattice systems are described in the framework of the Bose-Hubbard model. For the evaluation of the time-evolved state, we employ several numerical methods. We analyze systems of small size (6 particles on 6 sites) using an exact time-evolution by integration of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The formulation of an importance truncation scheme enables us to retain only the relevant components of the model space in the strongly correlated regime and, thus, allows for the investigation of systems with 10 particles on 10 sites using exact time-evolution. Based on this method, we present results of the Mott-insulating regime as well as for the Bose-glass phase. Furthermore, we employ particle-hole methods, which allow for the treatment of systems with experimental lattice sizes and particle numbers. Starting from the equation of motion method we adapt the Tamm-Dancoff approximation as well as the random-phase approximation for the occupation number representation of the Bose-Hubbard model. We present results of simulations of up to 50 particles on 50 sites and discuss the impact of the lattice depth on the low-energy excitations (U-resonance). Moreover, the impact of a two-color superlattice and the variation of its amplitude is investigated.
The influence of disorder on ultracold atomic Bose gases in optical lattices is discussed in the framework of the one-dimensional Bose–Hubbard model. It is shown that simple periodic modulations of the well depths generate a rich phase diagram consisting of superfluid, Mott insulator, Bose glass (BG) and spatially localized phases. The detailed evolution of mean occupation numbers and number fluctuations as function of modulation amplitude and interaction strength is discussed. Finally, the signatures of the different phases, especially of the BG phase, in matter–wave interference experiments are investigated.
Abstract A key aspect of ultracold bosonic quantum gases in deep optical lattice potential wells is the realization of the strongly interacting Mott insulating phase. Many characteristics of this phase are well understood, however little is known about the effects of a random external potential on its gapped quasiparticle and quasihole low-energy excitations. In the present study we investigate the effect of disorder upon the excitations of the Mott insulating state at zero temperature described by the Bose–Hubbard model. Using a field-theoretical approach we obtain a resummed expression for the disorder ensemble average of the spectral function. Its analysis shows that disorder leads to an increase of the effective mass of both quasiparticle and quasihole excitations. Furthermore, it yields the emergence of damped states, which exponentially decay during propagation in space and dominate the whole band when disorder becomes comparable to interactions. We argue that such damped-localized states correspond to single-particle excitations of the Bose-glass phase.
Motivated by the recent rapid development of the field of quantum gases in optical lattices, we present a comprehensive study of the spectrum of ultracold atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice subjected to a periodic lattice modulation. Using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method, we study the dynamical response due to lattice modulations in different quantum phases of the system with varying density. For the Mott-insulating state, we identify several excitation processes, which provide important information about the density profile of the gases. For the superfluid, the dynamical response can be well described in a local density approximation. This simplification can be valuable in understanding the strong-correlated superfluid in a slow-varying harmonic potential. All these spectroscopic features of an inhomogeneous system can be used as a test for the validity of the Bose-Hubbard model in a parabolic trapping potential.
We compute the absorption spectrum of strongly repulsive one-dimensional bosons in a disordered or quasiperiodic optical lattice. At commensurate filling, the particle-hole resonances of the Mott insulator are broadened as the disorder strength is increased. In the noncommensurate case, mapping the problem to the Anderson model allows us to study the Bose-glass phase. Surprisingly, we find that a perturbative treatment in both cases, weak and strong disorders, gives a good description at all frequencies. In particular, we find that the infrared-absorption rate in the thermodynamic limit is quadratic in frequency. This result is unexpected since for other quantities, like the conductivity in one-dimensional systems, perturbation theory is only applicable at high frequencies. We discuss applications to recent experiments on optical lattice systems and, in particular, the effect of the harmonic trap.