A bound state in the continuum (BIC) is a spatially localized energy eigenstate embedded in a continuous spectrum of extended eigenstates. While diverse types of single-particle BICs have been reported in the literature, understanding how such localization persists in interacting many-body systems remains a fundamental problem. Here, we present numerical evidence and a perturbative analysis supporting the existence of many-body BICs in a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard chain with an attractive impurity potential, a system previously known to host a BIC in the two-particle sector. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the Bethe-type construction of the known two-particle BIC breaks down already for three particles even for arbitrary finite superpositions of Bethe waves. The resulting BICs violate the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis for several local one- and two-body observables, leading to nonthermal dynamics from experimentally accessible initial states.
Abstract Bound states in the continuum (BICs), referring to spatially localized bound states with energies falling within the range of extended modes, have been extensively investigated in single-particle systems, leading to diverse applications in photonics, acoustics, and other classical-wave systems. Recently, there has been theoretical interest in exploring many-body BICs in interacting quantum systems, which necessitate the careful design of impurity potentials or spatial profiles of interaction. Here, we propose a type of many-body BICs localized at boundaries, which can be purely induced by the uniform onsite interaction without requiring any specific design of impurity potential or nonlocal interaction. We numerically show that three or more interacting bosons can concentrate on the boundary of a homogeneous one-dimensional lattice, which is absent at single- and two-particle counterparts. Moreover, the eigenenergy of multi-boson bound states can embed within the continuous energy spectra of extended scattering states, thereby giving rise to interaction-induced boundary many-body BICs. Furthermore, by mapping Fock states of three and four bosons to nonlinear circuit networks, we experimentally simulate boundary many-body BICs. Our findings enrich the comprehension of correlated BICs beyond the single-particle level, and have the potential to inspire future investigations on exploring many-body BICs.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are localized modes residing in the radiation continuum. They were first predicted for single-particle states, and became a general feature of many wave systems. In many-body quantum physics, it is still unclear what would be a close analog of BICs, and whether interparticle interaction may induce BICs. Here, we predict a novel type of multiparticle states in the interaction-modulated Bose-Hubbard model that can be associated with the BIC concept. Under periodic boundary conditions, a so-called quasi-BIC appears as a bound pair residing in a standing wave formed by the third particle. Under open boundary conditions, such a hybrid state becomes an eigenstate of the system. We demonstrate that the Thouless pumping of the quasi-BICs can be realized by modulating the onsite interactions in space and time. Surprisingly, while the center of mass of the quasi-BIC is shifted by a unit cell in one cycle, the bound pair moves in the opposite direction with the standing wave.
In the framework of the Bose-Hubbard model, we show that two-particle surface bound states embedded in the continuum (BIC) can be sustained at the edge of a semi-infinite one-dimensional tight-binding lattice for any infinitesimally-small impurity potential V at the lattice boundary. Such thresholdless surface states, which can be referred to as Tamm-Hubbard BIC states, exist provided that the impurity potential V is attractive (repulsive) and the particle-particle Hubbard interaction U is repulsive (attractive), i.e. for UV < 0.
We investigate bound states in the one-dimensional two-particle Bose-Hubbard model with an attractive (
V>0) impurity potential. This is a one-dimensional, discrete analogy of the hydrogen negative ion (H${}^{\ensuremath{-}}$) problem. There are several different types of bound states in this system, each of which appears in a specific region. For given
V, there exists a (positive) critical value
Uc1 of
U (the on-site atom-atom interaction), below which the ground state is a bound state. Interestingly, close to the critical value ($U\ensuremath{\lesssim}{U}_{c1}$), the ground state can be described by the Chandrasekhar-type variational wave function, which was initially proposed for H${}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. For
U>Uc1, the ground state is no longer a bound state. However, there exists a second (larger) critical value
Uc2 of
U, above which a molecule-type bound state is established and stabilized by the repulsion. We have also tried to solve for the eigenstates of the model using the Bethe ansatz. The model possesses a global
Z2 symmetry (parity) which allows classification of all eigenstates into even and odd states. It is found that all states with odd parity have the Bethe form, but none of the states in the even-parity sector. This allows us to identify analytically two odd-parity bound states, which appear in the parameter regions $\ensuremath{-}2V<U<\ensuremath{-}V$ and $\ensuremath{-}V<U<0$, respectively. Remarkably, the latter one can be embedded in the continuum spectrum with appropriate parameters. Moreover, in part of these regions, there exists an even-parity bound state accompanying the corresponding odd-parity bound state with almost the same energy.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are counterintuitive localized states that lie within the continuum of extended states. While extensively realized and utilized in classical wave systems, it is still unclear what a close analog of BICs would be, and how to extract their experimental signature in quantum-optical settings -- where the wave field itself is quantized into bosonic excitations. Here, we present a paradigmatic quantum-optical model consisting of a driven multi-level Jaynes-Cummings (JC) system, featuring few quantum degrees of freedom yet capable of hosting a BIC. Using the concept of a Fock-state lattice (FSL), this model can be mapped to an extended structure comprising two semi-infinite inhomogeneous Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains coupled to a common continuum. An appropriate quantum superposition of two topological zero modes from the separate chains forms a BIC that remains perfectly localized in the Fock-state dimension within the continuum spectrum, due to complete decoupling from the common continuum via destructive quantum interference. We further develop a method to extract the spectroscopic signature of the BIC -- a discrete peak embedded in a continuous background -- by Fourier-transforming the time-dependent dynamics of the system's chiral-symmetry operator. A highly feasible experimental proposal using a single trapped ion is provided. Our work bridges BIC physics with quantum optics, opening a pathway to harnessing such exotic states at the quantum limit.
We theoretically demonstrate that a type of robust two-particle bound state embedded in the continuum (BIC), which we call Floquet-Hubbard (FH) BIC, can be induced in a homogeneous (i.e., defect-free) Hubbard semilattice by an intense oscillating electric field. While single-particle BIC states are fragile states that exist solely for specially tailored potentials, FH BIC states are found in a wide range of parameter space, do not require fulfillment of resonance conditions, and are thresholdless. Analytical results are derived in the high-frequency limit of field modulation by a multiple-time-scale asymptotic analysis of the ac-driven Hubbard Hamiltonian in the two-particle sector. A FH BIC mode basically corresponds to a molecular state, in which the two particles bind together, undergoing correlated tunneling on the lattice. Localization of the molecular state is induced by the external oscillating field, which effectively attracts the molecular state at the edge of the semi-infinite lattice. Our results can pave the way for the study and interpretation of strong-field phenomena in correlated-particles physics.