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arXiv:1106.0904 · Physical Review Letters

Fermions in 3D Optical Lattices: Cooling Protocol to Obtain Antiferromagnetism

Thereza Paiva, Yen Lee Loh, Mohit Randeria, Richard T. Scalettar, Nandini Trivedi

Published Aug 17, 2011• 71 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A major challenge in realizing antiferromagnetic and superfluid phases in optical lattices is the ability to cool fermions. We determine the equation of state for the 3D repulsive Fermi-Hubbard model as a function of the chemical potential, temperature, and repulsion using unbiased determinantal quantum Monte Carlo methods, and we then use the local density approximation to model a harmonic trap. We show that increasing repulsion leads to cooling but only in a trap, due to the redistribution of entropy from the center to the metallic wings. Thus, even when the average entropy per particle is larger than that required for antiferromagnetism in the homogeneous system, the trap enables the formation of an antiferromagnetic Mott phase.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.107.086401

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A major challenge in realizing antiferromagnetic and superfluid phases in optical lattices is the ability to cool fermions. We determine the equation of state for the 3D repulsive Fermi-Hubbard model as a function of the chemical potential, temperature, and repulsion using unbiased determinantal quantum Monte Carlo methods, and we then use the local density approximation to model a harmonic trap. We show that increasing repulsion leads to cooling but only in a trap, due to the redistribution of entropy from the center to the metallic wings. Thus, even when the average entropy per particle is larger than that required for antiferromagnetism in the homogeneous system, the trap enables the formation of an antiferromagnetic Mott phase.
One of the major challenges in realizing antiferromagnetic and superfluid phases in optical lattices is the ability to cool fermions. We determine constraints on the entropy for observing these phases in two-dimensional Hubbard models using determinantal quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We find that an entropy per particle approximately = ln2 is sufficient to observe the insulating gap in the repulsive Hubbard model at half-filling, or the pairing pseudogap in the attractive case. Observing antiferromagnetic correlations or superfluidity in 2D systems requires a further reduction in entropy by a factor of 3 or more. In contrast with higher dimensions, we find that adiabatic cooling is not useful to achieve the required low temperatures. We also show that double-occupancy measurements are useful for thermometry for temperatures greater than the nearest-neighbor hopping energy.
Abstract The celebrated antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase transition was realized in a most recent optical lattice experiment for the 3D fermionic Hubbard model [ Shao et al . Nature 632 267 (2024) ]. Despite this important progress, it was observed that the AFM structure factor (and also the critical entropy) reaches its maximum at an interaction strength U / t ≃ 11.75, which is significantly larger than the theoretical prediction of U / t ≃ 8. Here, we resolve this discrepancy by studying the interplay between the thermal entropy, density disorder, and antiferromagnetism in the half-filled 3D Hubbard model, using numerically exact auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We have achieved an accurate entropy phase diagram, enabling us to simulate arbitrary entropy path on the temperature-interaction plane and track experimental parameters effectively. We find that above the discrepancy can be quantitatively explained by the entropy increase associated with increasing interaction strength in experiments, and together with the lattice density disorder present in the experimental setup. We further investigate the entropy dependence of double occupancy and predict universal behaviors that could serve as valuable probes in future optical lattice experiments.
The ability to cool fermions in optical lattices to ultra cold temperatures has led to an interdisciplinary area of research, that has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. An interesting development in this area is the possibility to realize models for strongly correlated fermions in the laboratory, such as the fermionic Hubbard Model. Determinantal Quantum Monte Carlo simulations have proven to be an important tool in the study of fermionic atoms. Nonetheless, it is important to compare the results and efficiency of different methods. Here comparisons with Numerical Linked Cluster Expansion and Dynamical Mean Field Theory data for double occupation and short range correlations, both relevant to current optical lattice experiments, will be presented and discussed. Another topic relevant in the context of optical lattice experiments is the study of metal insulator transitions. Indeed, the Mott insulating phase has been realized and observed in two-flavor mixtures of fermionic atoms loaded on optical lattices, being characterized both by the double occupation and the compressibility. An interesting point that has been addressed in the literature over the years is whether the same fermion-fermion interaction, responsible for the Mott insulating state, could drive an insulating system metallic. Here we show that, when fermions are loaded in optical lattices with spatially varying interactions a correlation induced Mott insulator to metal transition can take place. The spatial modulation of the interactions was recently demonstrated and opens the possibility for the experimental realization of such exotic phases.
The fermionic Hubbard model plays a fundamental role in the description of strongly correlated materials. We have realized this Hamiltonian in a repulsively interacting spin mixture of ultracold (40)K atoms in a three-dimensional (3D) optical lattice. Using in situ imaging and independent control of external confinement and lattice depth, we were able to directly measure the compressibility of the quantum gas in the trap. Together with a comparison to ab initio dynamical mean field theory calculations, we show how the system evolves for increasing confinement from a compressible dilute metal over a strongly interacting Fermi liquid into a band-insulating state. For strong interactions, we find evidence for an emergent incompressible Mott insulating phase. This demonstrates the potential to model interacting condensed-matter systems using ultracold fermionic atoms.
A major motivation for cold atom experiments is the search for quantum ground states such as antiferromagnets and d-wave superfluids. The primary obstacle to this task is the difficulty of cooling to sufficiently low temperatures. We propose a way to achieve very low temperatures and entropies (∼0.03kB\sim 0.03k_B∼0.03kB​ per particle) by trapping fermions in a corral formed from another species of atoms. The Fermi system can then be used as a heat sink, or it can be adiabatically evolved into other desired states. In particular, we suggest methods for generating antiferromagnetism using this technique.
In the experimental context of cold-fermion optical lattices, we discuss the possibilities to approach the pseudogap or ordered phases by manipulating the scattering length or the strength of the laser-induced lattice potential. Using the two-particle self-consistent approach, as well as quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we provide isentropic curves for the two- and three-dimensional Hubbard models at half-filling. These quantitative results are important for practical attempts to reach the ordered antiferromagnetic phase in experiments on optical lattices of two-component fermions. We find that adiabatically turning on the interaction in two dimensions to cool the system is not very effective. In three dimensions, adiabatic cooling to the antiferromagnetic phase can be achieved in such a manner, although the cooling efficiency is not as high as initially suggested by dynamical mean-field theory. Adiabatic cooling by turning off the repulsion beginning at strong coupling is possible in certain cases.