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arXiv:1204.0413 · New Journal of Physics

Transport-induced melting of crystals of Rydberg dressed atoms in a one-dimensional lattice

Achim Lauer, Dominik Muth, Michael Fleischhauer

Published Sep 13, 2012• 27 citations
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Abstract

We discuss the many-body physics of an ensemble of Rydberg dressed atoms with van der Waals dipole–dipole interactions in a one-dimensional lattice. Using a strong coupling expansion and numerical density-matrix renormalization group simulations, we calculate the many-body phase diagram. A devil's staircase structure emerges with Mott-insulating phases at any rational filling fraction. Closed analytic expressions are given for the phase boundaries in second order of the tunneling amplitude and are shown to agree very well with the numerical results. The transition point where the incompressible phases melt due to the kinetic energy term depends strongly on the denominator of the filling fraction and varies over many orders of magnitude between different phases.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/14/9/095009

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We discuss the many-body physics of an ensemble of Rydberg dressed atoms with van der Waals dipole–dipole interactions in a one-dimensional lattice. Using a strong coupling expansion and numerical density-matrix renormalization group simulations, we calculate the many-body phase diagram. A devil's staircase structure emerges with Mott-insulating phases at any rational filling fraction. Closed analytic expressions are given for the phase boundaries in second order of the tunneling amplitude and are shown to agree very well with the numerical results. The transition point where the incompressible phases melt due to the kinetic energy term depends strongly on the denominator of the filling fraction and varies over many orders of magnitude between different phases.
Abstract. We discuss the many-body physics of an ensemble of Rydberg dressed atoms with van der Waals dipole-dipole interactions in a one-dimensional lattice. Using a strong coupling expansion and numerical density-matrix renormalisation group simulations, we calculate the many-body phase diagram. A devil’s staircase structure emerges with Mott-insulating phases at any rational filling fraction. Closed analytic expressions are given for the phase boundaries in second order of the tunnelling amplitude and shown to agree very well with the numerical results. The transition point where the incompressible phases melt due to the kinetic energy term depends strongly on the denominator of the filling fraction and varies over many orders of magnitude between different phases.
We describe the zero-temperature phase diagram of a model of a two-dimensional square-lattice array of neutral atoms, excited into Rydberg states and interacting via strong van der Waals interactions. Using the density-matrix renormalization group algorithm, we map out the phase diagram and obtain a rich variety of phases featuring complex density wave orderings, upon varying lattice spacing and laser detuning. While some of these phases result from the classical optimization of the van der Waals energy, we also find intrinsically quantum-ordered phases stabilized by quantum fluctuations. These phases are surrounded by novel quantum phase transitions, which we analyze by finite-size scaling numerics and Landau theories. Our work highlights Rydberg quantum simulators in higher dimensions as promising platforms to realize exotic many-body phenomena.
Competing short- and long-range interactions represent distinguished ingredients for the formation of complex quantum many-body phases. Their study is hard to realize with conventional quantum simulators. In this regard, Rydberg atoms provide an exception as their excited manifold of states have both density-density and exchange interactions whose strength and range can vary considerably. Focusing on one-dimensional systems, we leverage the Van der Waals and dipole-dipole interactions of the Rydberg atoms to obtain the zero-temperature phase diagram for a uniform chain and a dimer model. For the uniform chain, we can influence the boundaries between ordered phases and a Luttinger liquid phase. For the dimerized case, a new type of bond-order-density-wave phase is identified. This demonstrates the versatility of the Rydberg platform in studying physics involving short- and long-ranged interactions simultaneously.
The devil's staircase is a fractal structure that characterizes the ground state of one-dimensional classical lattice gases with long-range repulsive convex interactions. Its plateaus mark regions of stability for specific filling fractions which are controlled by a chemical potential. Typically, such a staircase has an explicit particle-hole symmetry; i.e., the staircase at more than half filling can be trivially extracted from the one at less than half filling by exchanging the roles of holes and particles. Here, we introduce a quantum spin chain with competing short-range attractive and long-range repulsive interactions, i.e., a nonconvex potential. In the classical limit the ground state features generalized Wigner crystals that--depending on the filling fraction--are composed of either dimer particles or dimer holes, which results in an emergent complete devil's staircase without explicit particle-hole symmetry of the underlying microscopic model. In our system the particle-hole symmetry is lifted due to the fact that the staircase is controlled through a two-body interaction rather than a one-body chemical potential. The introduction of quantum fluctuations through a transverse field melts the staircase and ultimately makes the system enter a paramagnetic phase. For intermediate transverse field strengths, however, we identify a region where the density-density correlations suggest the emergence of quasi-long-range order. We discuss how this physics can be explored with Rydberg-dressed atoms held in a lattice.
Quantum fluctuations in frustrated systems can lead to the emergence of complex many-body phases. However, the role of quantum fluctuations in frustration-free lattices is less explored and could provide an interesting avenue for exploring new physics, and perhaps is easier to realize compared to frustrated lattice systems. Using Rydberg atoms with tunable interactions as a platform, we leverage strong van der Waals interactions and obtain a constrained model in one dimension with nonlocal fluctuations given by dipolar interactions alongside local fluctuations. The combined effect of such processes leads to intrinsically quantum-ordered Rydberg crystals through the order-by-disorder mechanism. Finite-size analyses indicate that combined fluctuations drive the transition from disordered to ordered phases, contrary to the expected direction. We provide a theoretical description to understand the physics of order-by-disorder in one-dimensional systems, which are typically seen only in higher dimensions.
Abstract The interplay between many-body interactions and the kinetic energy gives rise to rich phase diagrams hosting, among others, interaction-induced topological phases. These phases are characterized by both a local order parameter and a global topological invariant, and can exhibit exotic ground states such as self-trapped polarons and interaction-induced edge states. In this work, we investigate a realistic scenario for the quantum simulation of such systems using cold Rydberg-dressed atoms in optical lattices. We consider spinless fermions on a checkerboard lattice, interacting via the tunable-range effective potential induced by the Rydberg dressing. We perform a detailed analysis of the phase diagram at half- and incommensurate fillings, in the mean-field approximation. We furthermore study the stability of the phases with respect to temperature within the mean-field approximation and with respect to quantum fluctuations using the density matrix renormalization group method. Finally, we propose an implementation protocol, and in particular identify attainable regimes of experimental parameters in which the topological properties of the model become accessible. Our work thereby opens a realistic pathway to the outstanding experimental observation of this predicted phase in state-of-the-art cold atom quantum simulators.