Flux ladders constitute the minimal setup enabling a systematic understanding of the rich physics of interacting particles subjected simultaneously to strong magnetic fields and a lattice potential. In this paper, the ground-state phase diagram of a flux-ladder model is mapped out using extensive density-matrix renormalization-group simulations. The emphasis is put on parameters which can be experimentally realized exploiting the internal states of potassium atoms as a synthetic dimension. The focus is on accessible observables such as the chiral current and the leg-population imbalance. Considering a particle filling of one boson per rung, we report the existence of a Mott-insulating Meissner phase as well as biased-ladder phases on top of superfluids and Mott insulators. Furthermore, we demonstrate that quantum quenches from suitably chosen initial states can be used to probe the equilibrium properties in the transient dynamics. Concretely, we consider the instantaneous turning on of hopping matrix elements along the rungs or legs in the synthetic flux-ladder model, with different initial particle distributions. We show that clear signatures of the biased-ladder phase can be observed in the transient dynamics. Moreover, the behavior of the chiral current in the transient dynamics is discussed. The results presented in this paper provide guidelines for future implementations of flux ladders in experimental setups exploiting a synthetic dimension.
Flux ladders constitute the minimal setup enabling a systematic understanding of the rich physics of interacting particles subjected simultaneously to strong magnetic fields and a lattice potential. In this paper, the ground-state phase diagram of a flux-ladder model is mapped out using extensive density-matrix renormalization-group simulations. The emphasis is put on parameters which can be experimentally realized exploiting the internal states of potassium atoms as a synthetic dimension. The focus is on accessible observables such as the chiral current and the leg-population imbalance. Considering a particle filling of one boson per rung, we report the existence of a Mott-insulating Meissner phase as well as biased-ladder phases on top of superfluids and Mott insulators. Furthermore, we demonstrate that quantum quenches from suitably chosen initial states can be used to probe the equilibrium properties in the transient dynamics. Concretely, we consider the instantaneous turning on of hopping matrix elements along the rungs or legs in the synthetic flux-ladder model, with different initial particle distributions. We show that clear signatures of the biased-ladder phase can be observed in the transient dynamics. Moreover, the behavior of the chiral current in the transient dynamics is discussed. The results presented in this paper provide guidelines for future implementations of flux ladders in experimental setups exploiting a synthetic dimension.
Flux ladders constitute the minimal setup enabling a systematic understanding of the rich physics of interacting particles subjected simultaneously to a strong magnetic field and a lattice potential. The recent realization of flux ladders in ultracold quantum gases with artificial magnetic fields has attracted great interest. In this thesis, we study various aspects of interacting bosonic flux ladders using extensive matrix-product-state based calculations. Specifically, the numerical techniques include the variational ground-state optimization by means of the density-matrix renormalization-group method, a purification approach for the study of finite-temperature states, as well as time-evolution methods for the simulation of quench dynamics. In an introductory part, we recapitulate key features and important ground-state phases of the flux-ladder model and discuss the numerical methods. Subsequently, the main results are presented as follows. First, the emphasis is put on model parameters which are envisioned to be realized in a future quantum gas experiment exploiting the internal states of potassium atoms as a synthetic dimension. Considering a particle filling of one boson per rung, we map out the ground-state phase diagram and report on a Mott-insulating Meissner phase as well as on biased-ladder phases, which might exist on top of superfluids and Mott insulators. Moreover, we demonstrate that quantum quenches of suitably chosen initial states can be used to probe the equilibrium properties in the transient dynamics. Concretely, we consider the instantaneous turning on of particle hopping along the rungs or legs in the synthetic flux-ladder model, with different initial particle distributions. We show that clear signatures of the biased-ladder phase and the Meissner phase can be observed in the transient dynamics. Second, we study the effect of finite temperatures in flux ladders. So far, most of the theoretical work on these systems has concentrated on zero-temperature phases while the finite-temperature regime remains largely unexplored. However, the question if and up to which temperature characteristic features of the ground-state phases persist is relevant in experimental realizations. In order to explore the finite-temperature regime, a matrix-product-state based purification approach for the simulation of strongly interacting bosons has been implemented. Our study is focused on chiral currents and momentum-distribution functions, which are key observables in ultracold quantum gases, and our main results concern the most prominent vortex liquid-to-Meissner crossover. We demonstrate that signatures of the vortex-liquid phase can still be detected at elevated temperatures from characteristic finite-momentum maxima in the momentum-distribution functions, while the vortex-liquid phase leaves weaker fingerprints in the chiral current. In order to determine the range of temperatures over which these signatures can be observed, we introduce a suitable measure for the contrast of these maxima. The results are condensed into a finite-temperature crossover diagram. Third, we investigate the Hall response in bosonic flux ladders. While flux ladders are the most simple lattice models giving rise to the Hall effect, the theoretical description of the many-body ground-state Hall response in these systems remains a tricky problem and an active line of research. In view of current quantum gas experiments, we discuss feasible schemes to extend measurements of the Hall polarization to a study of the Hall voltage, allowing for direct comparison with solid state systems. Most importantly, we report on characteristic zero crossings and a remarkable robustness of the Hall voltage with respect to interaction strengths, particle fillings, and ladder geometries, which is unobservable in the Hall polarization. Moreover, we investigate the site-resolved Hall response in spatially inhomogeneous quantum phases using a semiclassical approach. In conclusion, we present a brief summary of our work and touch on possible follow-up studies which are directly connected to the contents of this thesis.
Grand-canonical phase diagram and chiral-current suppression at π flux in a bosonic two-leg ladder
We investigate the ground-state phase diagram of repulsively interacting bosons on a two-leg ladder threaded by a uniform artificial magnetic flux, using the cluster Gutzwiller mean-field method. In the strong-rung-coupling regime, self-consistent calculations are performed on a 2×4 cluster. By analyzing the superfluid order parameter, leg-resolved currents, chiral current, the current ratio on adjacent legs, and the density imbalance between the two legs, we distinguish Mott-insulating from superfluid regimes and characterize the observed states as Meissner-like, vortex-like (superfluid or Mott insulating), or biased-ladder. In regions overlapping with previous DMRG studies, our results qualitatively agree with the established phase structure, demonstrating that the cluster Gutzwiller approach balances computational efficiency and physical accuracy. We then construct the first grand-canonical t--μ phase diagrams for this system, revealing how the magnetic flux modifies the shape, tilt, and extent of the Mott lobes. We further explore previously inaccessible regimes, including higher fillings ρ≳1 and the intermediate interaction window U/t∈[7.69,9.09]. Special attention is paid to φ=π, where the effective triangular-ladder mapping becomes singular. Owing to the equivalence of φ=π and −π modulo 2π, a combined symmetry forbids net chiral currents, leading to a nonchiral Mott-insulating state, in contrast to the chiral-superfluid tendency expected away from φ=π. Our results offer a computationally efficient route for mapping the global phase structure of bosonic flux ladders and provide guidance for future ultracold-atom experiments in artificial gauge fields.
We establish the phase diagram of the strongly interacting Bose-Hubbard model defined on a two-leg ladder geometry in the presence of a homogeneous flux. Our work is motivated by a recent experiment [M. Atala et al., Nat. Phys. 10, 588 (2014)], which studied the same system, in the complementary regime of weak interactions. Based on extensive density matrix renormalization group simulations and a bosonization analysis, we fully explore the parameter space spanned by filling, interleg tunneling, and flux. As a main result, we demonstrate the existence of gapless and gapped Meissner and vortex phases, with the gapped states emerging in Mott-insulating regimes. We calculate experimentally accessible observables such as chiral currents and vortex patterns.
We study the quantum phases of bosons with repulsive contact interactions on a two-leg ladder in the presence of a uniform Abelian gauge field. The model realizes many interesting states, including Meissner phases, vortex fluids, vortex lattices, charge density waves, and the biased-ladder phase. Our work focuses on the subset of these states that breaks a discrete symmetry. We use density matrix renormalization group simulations to demonstrate the existence of three vortex-lattice states at different vortex densities and we characterize the phase transitions from these phases into neighboring states. Furthermore, we provide an intuitive explanation of the chiral-current reversal effect that is tied to some of these vortex lattices. We also study a charge-density-wave state that exists at 1/4 particle filling at large interaction strengths and flux values close to half a flux quantum. By changing the system parameters, this state can transition into a completely gapped vortex-lattice Mott-insulating state. We elucidate the stability of these phases against nearest-neighbor interactions on the rungs of the ladder relevant for experimental realizations with a synthetic lattice dimension. A charge-density-wave state at 1/3 particle filling can be stabilized for flux values close to half a flux quantum and for very strong on-site interactions in the presence of strong repulsion on the rungs. Finally, we analytically describe the emergence of these phases in the low-density regime, and, in particular, we obtain the boundaries of the biased-ladder phase, i.e., the phase that features a density imbalance between the legs. We make contact with recent quantum-gas experiments that realized related models and discuss signatures of these quantum states in experimentally accessible observables.
Motivated by experiments exploring the physics of neutral atoms in artificial magnetic fields, we study the ground state of bosons interacting with long-range dipolar interactions on a two-leg ladder. We focus on the limit where the number of particles per site is large and the interactions are weak. Using two complementary variational approaches, we find rich physics driven by the long-range forces. Generically, long-range interactions tend to destroy the Meissner phase in favor of modulated density wave phases. For example, nearest-neighbor interactions produce an interleg charge density wave phase, where the total density remains uniform but the density on each leg of the ladder is modulating in space, out of phase with one another. Next-nearest-neighbor interactions lead to a fully modulated biased ladder phase, where all of the particles are on one leg of the ladder. This state simultaneously breaks Z2 reflection symmetry and U(1) translation symmetry. For values of the flux near $\ensuremath{\phi}=\ensuremath{\pi}$, we find a switching effect for arbitrarily weak interactions, where the density is modulated but the chiral current changes sign on every plaquette. Arbitrarily weak attractive interactions along the rungs destroy the Meissner phase completely, in favor of a modulated density wave phase. Remarkably, varying the rung to ladder hopping produces a cascade of first-order transitions between modulated density wave states with different wave vectors, which manifests itself as discrete jumps in the chiral current. Polarizing the dipoles along the ladder direction yields a region of phase space where a stable biased ladder phase occurs even at arbitrarily weak rung hopping. We discuss the experimental consequences of our work and draw connections between our work and recent experiments on cold atoms in synthetic dimensions.
Neutral-atom quantum simulators provide a powerful platform for realizing strongly correlated phases, enabling access to dynamical signatures of quasiparticles and symmetry breaking processes. Motivated by recent observations of quantum phases in flux-frustrated ladders with non-vanishing ground state currents, we investigate interacting bosons on the dimerized BBH lattice in two dimensions-originally introduced in the context of higher-order topology. After mapping out the phase diagram, which includes vortex superfluid (V-SF), vortex Mott insulator (V-MI), and featureless Mott insulator (MI) phases, we focus on the integer filling case. There, the MI/V-SF transition simultaneously breaks the Z2T and U(1) symmetries, where Z2T corresponds to time-reversal symmetry (TRS). Using a slave-boson description, we resolve the excitation spectrum across the transition and uncover a chiral Higgs mode whose mass softens at criticality, providing a dynamical hallmark of emergent chirality that manifests via the oscillation of the loop currents in quench dynamics. Our results establish an experimentally realistic setting for probing unconventional TRS-broken phases and quasiparticles with intrinsic chirality in strongly interacting quantum matter.