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arXiv:2002.02312 · Physical Review A

Controlling magnetic correlations in a driven Hubbard system far from half-filling

Hongmin Gao, Jonathan R. Coulthard, Dieter Jaksch, Jordi Mur-Petit

Published May 28, 2020• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose using ultracold fermionic atoms trapped in a periodically shaken optical lattice as a quantum simulator of the $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ Hamiltonian, which describes the dynamics in doped antiferromagnets and is thought to be relevant to the problem of high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates. We show analytically that the effective Hamiltonian describing this system for off-resonant driving is the $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model with additional pair hopping terms, whose parameters can all be controlled by the drive. We then demonstrate numerically using tensor network methods for a one-dimensional (1D) lattice that a slow modification of the driving strength allows near-adiabatic transfer of the system from the ground state of the underlying Hubbard model to the ground state of the effective $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ Hamiltonian. Finally, we report exact diagonalization calculations illustrating the control achievable on the dynamics of spin-singlet pairs in 2D lattices utilizing this technique with current cold-atom quantum-simulation technology. These results open new routes to explore the interplay between density and spin in strongly correlated fermionic systems through their out-of-equilibrium dynamics.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.101.053634

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We propose using ultracold fermionic atoms trapped in a periodically shaken optical lattice as a quantum simulator of the t\ensuremath-Jt\text{\ensuremath{-}}Jt\ensuremath-J Hamiltonian, which describes the dynamics in doped antiferromagnets and is thought to be relevant to the problem of high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates. We show analytically that the effective Hamiltonian describing this system for off-resonant driving is the t\ensuremath-Jt\text{\ensuremath{-}}Jt\ensuremath-J model with additional pair hopping terms, whose parameters can all be controlled by the drive. We then demonstrate numerically using tensor network methods for a one-dimensional (1D) lattice that a slow modification of the driving strength allows near-adiabatic transfer of the system from the ground state of the underlying Hubbard model to the ground state of the effective t\ensuremath-Jt\text{\ensuremath{-}}Jt\ensuremath-J Hamiltonian. Finally, we report exact diagonalization calculations illustrating the control achievable on the dynamics of spin-singlet pairs in 2D lattices utilizing this technique with current cold-atom quantum-simulation technology. These results open new routes to explore the interplay between density and spin in strongly correlated fermionic systems through their out-of-equilibrium dynamics.
Controlling and stabilising collective phases of many-body quantum systems is a problem of deep fundamental and technological interest. In this thesis, we perform a theoretical investigation on how useful quantum phases may be engineered in strongly correlated fermionic lattice systems, especially through periodic driving. We first compute the phase diagram of the one-dimensional t–J model with the addition of non-standard pair hopping terms. We show that at dilute fillings these terms enhance superconductivity while, counter- intuitively, suppressing it at large fillings. We argue that this is due to dynamical constraints originating from the fact that local pairs cannot overlap. We conjecture that these constraints may play a more significant role in the physics of two-dimensional systems where the t–J model is studied as a candidate model of high-Tc superconductivity. We begin to investigate these dynamical constraints on a ladder geometry. We then study the fermionic Hubbard model under periodic driving. We show that the driving induces a strong and robust singlet-pairing effect consistent with a superconducting state. This could provide a new mechanism for light-induced superconductivity in some classes of strongly cor- related materials. We show using Floquet theory that the dynamics of the driven Hubbard model are described precisely by the t–J model studied in the previous section. As the driven Hubbard model is also implementable with ultracold fermions in an optical lattice, our results could lead to their use as a quantum simulator for a broad class of candidate models for high-Tc superconductivity.
Understanding the magnetic response of the normal state of the cuprates is considered a key piece in solving the puzzle of their high-temperature superconductivity. The essential physics of these materials is believed to be captured by the Fermi-Hubbard model, a minimal model that has been realized with cold atoms in optical lattices. Here we report on site-resolved measurements of the Fermi-Hubbard model in a spin-imbalanced atomic gas, allowing us to explore the response of the system to large effective magnetic fields. We observe short-range canted antiferromagnetism at half-filling with stronger spin correlations in the direction orthogonal to the magnetization, in contrast with the spin-balanced case where identical correlations are measured for any projection of the pseudospin. The rotational anisotropy of the spin correlators is found to increase with polarization and with distance between the spins. Away from half-filling, the polarization of the gas exhibits non-monotonic behavior with doping for strong interactions, resembling the behavior of the magnetic susceptibility in the cuprates. We compare our measurements to predictions from Determinantal Quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) and Numerical Linked Cluster Expansion (NLCE) algorithms and find good agreement. Calculations on the doped system are near the limits of these techniques, illustrating the value of cold atom quantum simulations for studying strongly-correlated materials.
Ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices offer pristine realizations of Hubbard models1, which are fundamental to modern condensed-matter physics2,3. Despite notable advancements4–6, the accessible temperatures in these optical lattice material analogues are still too high to address many open problems7–10. Here we demonstrate a several-fold reduction in temperature6,11–13, bringing large-scale quantum simulations of the Hubbard model into an entirely new regime. This is accomplished by transforming a low-entropy product state into strongly correlated states of interest via dynamic control of the model parameters14,15, which is extremely challenging to simulate classically10. At half-filling, the long-range antiferromagnetic order is close to saturation, leading to a temperature of T/t=0.05−0.05+0.06T/t=0.0{5}_{-0.05}^{+0.06}T/t=0.05−0.05+0.06​ based on comparisons with numerically exact simulations. Doped away from half-filling, it is exceedingly challenging to realize systematically accurate and predictive numerical simulations9. Importantly, we are able to use quantum simulation to identify a new pathway for achieving similarly low temperatures with doping. This is confirmed by comparing short-range spin correlations to state-of-the-art, but approximate, constrained-path auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo simulations16–18. Compared with the cuprates2,19,20, the reported temperatures correspond to a reduction from far above to below room temperature, at which physics such as the pseudogap and stripe phases may be expected3,19,21–24. Our work opens the door to quantum simulations that solve open questions in material science, develop synergies with numerical methods and theoretical studies, and lead to discoveries of new physics8,10. A several-fold reduction in temperature is accomplished using a neutral-atom Hubbard quantum simulator by transforming a low-entropy product state into strongly correlated states of interest via dynamic control of the model parameters.
This thesis presents quantum simulation of strongly-correlated systems beyond standard Hubbard models, using ultracold fermionic potassium atoms in both static and periodically-driven optical superlattices. For this study, we utilize a three-dimensional optical lattice setup, controlling particle interactions via magnetic Feshbach resonances and tunneling between lattice sites through optical lattice intensity. High-resolution absorption imaging combined with radio-frequency spectroscopy distinguishes between singly and doubly occupied sites. To enhance our systems capabilities beyond the standard Hubbard model, we extend the apparatus with an in-plane optical superlattice, creating a bi-chromatic structure by superposition of two optical lattices with commensurate lattice spacings. Using a phase locked loop with an environmental feed forward, we create an excellent phase stability of the superlattice exceeding 3 mrad. This precision allows us to explore both static and periodically-driven one-dimensional tight-binding models with strong interactions. We characterize the static superlattice through radio-frequency spectroscopy and Rabi oscillations, and validate the experimental data against theoretical calculations. In a tilted superlattice configuration, we successfully prepare and detect repulsively bound atom pairs, representing a highly excited eigenstate of the system. Furthermore, we demonstrate control over pair tunneling dynamics in a double-well potential using Floquet engineering, employing a low-noise periodic modulation of the optical superlattice tilt. Using an adiabatic band mapping technique, we directly observe the tunneling dynamics in the driven superlattice. We realize dynamic localization in quarter-filled wells and density-assisted tunneling up to the third harmonic order in half-filled wells. We observe a crossover from density-assited tunneling to dominant pair tunneling by tuning the effective interactions. Remarkably, the pair tunneling is not only enhanced relative to the suppressed single-particle tunneling but also exceeds the superexchange rate of a static double-well by more than a factor of two. This opens the possibility to study many-body systems with dominant pair tunneling, that extend beyond the standard Hubbard model.
By using a modulated magnetic field in a Feshbach resonance for ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices, we show that it is possible to engineer a class of models usually referred to as correlated-hopping models. These models differ from the Hubbard model in exhibiting additional density-dependent interaction terms that affect the hopping processes. In addition to the spin-SU(2) symmetry, they also possess a charge-SU(2) symmetry, which opens the possibility of investigating the $\ensuremath{\eta}$-pairing mechanism for superconductivity introduced by Yang for the Hubbard model. We discuss the known solution of the model in one dimension (where $\ensuremath{\eta}$ states have been found in the degenerate manifold of the ground state) and show that, away from the integrable point, quantum Monte Carlo simulations at half filling predict the emergence of a phase with coexisting incommensurate spin and charge order.
Recent experiments performed on cuprates and alkali-doped fullerides have demonstrated that key signatures of superconductivity can be induced above the equilibrium critical temperature by optical modulation. These observations in disparate physical systems may indicate a general underlying mechanism. Multiple theories have been proposed, but these either consider specific features, such as competing instabilities, or focus on conventional BCS-type superconductivity. Here we show that periodic driving can enhance electron pairing in strongly correlated systems. Focusing on the strongly repulsive limit of the doped Hubbard model, we investigate in-gap, spatially inhomogeneous, on-site modulations. We demonstrate that such modulations substantially reduce electronic hopping, while simultaneously sustaining superexchange interactions and pair hopping via driving-induced virtual charge excitations. We calculate real-time dynamics for the one-dimensional case, starting from zero- and finite-temperature initial states, and we show that enhanced singlet-pair correlations emerge quickly and robustly in the out-of-equilibrium many-body state. Our results reveal a fundamental pairing mechanism that might underpin optically induced superconductivity in some strongly correlated quantum materials.