Separating electrons into emergent fractional quasiparticles is a hallmark of exotic quantum phases of matter with strong interactions. Understanding under which circumstances fractionalized excitations appear is a major conceptual challenge and can help realize long sought-after states, such as quantum spin liquids. Here, we identify a distinct mechanism for fractionalization. Starting from the plaquette-ordered ground state of an SU(4) symmetric t-J model at quarter filling on frustrated triangular lattices, we reveal a compelling interplay between order and fractionalization as a function of doping. For hole doping, we find that the kinetic frustration can be relieved by fractionalizing the holes into fermionic spinons and bosonic holons: the holons minimize their kinetic energy when the spinons form a spinon Fermi surface. We support this mechanism analytically in the large-N limit as well as numerically by simulating the SU(4) case with matrix product states on cylinder geometries and with variational Monte Carlo methods on system sizes up to 40x40. Conversely, electron doping drives the system into a ferromagnetic phase, akin to Nagaoka's theorem. We discuss possible experimental realizations in moiré heterostructures as well as ultracold atoms, and propose dynamical probes to search for key characteristics of the fractionalized quasiparticles.
Separating electrons into emergent fractional quasiparticles is a hallmark of exotic quantum phases of matter with strong interactions. Understanding under which circumstances fractionalized excitations appear is a major conceptual challenge and can help realize long sought-after states, such as quantum spin liquids. Here, we identify a distinct mechanism for fractionalization. Starting from the plaquette-ordered ground state of an SU(4) symmetric t-J model at quarter filling on frustrated triangular lattices, we reveal a compelling interplay between order and fractionalization as a function of doping. For hole doping, we find that the kinetic frustration can be relieved by fractionalizing the holes into fermionic spinons and bosonic holons: the holons minimize their kinetic energy when the spinons form a spinon Fermi surface. We support this mechanism analytically in the large-N limit as well as numerically by simulating the SU(4) case with matrix product states on cylinder geometries and with variational Monte Carlo methods on system sizes up to 40x40. Conversely, electron doping drives the system into a ferromagnetic phase, akin to Nagaoka's theorem. We discuss possible experimental realizations in moiré heterostructures as well as ultracold atoms, and propose dynamical probes to search for key characteristics of the fractionalized quasiparticles.
Microscopically understanding competing orders in strongly correlated systems is a key challenge in modern quantum many-body physics. For example, the study of magnetic polarons and their relation to pairing in the Fermi-Hubbard model in different geometries remains one of the central questions, and may help to understand the mechanism underlying unconventional superconductivity in cuprates or transition metal dichalcogenides. With recent advances in analog quantum simulation of the Fermi-Hubbard model on nonbipartite lattices, frustrated physics can now be explored experimentally in systems lacking particle-hole symmetry. Here, we study the singly doped $t\ensuremath{-}J$ model on the triangular lattice, focusing on the competition between kinetic and magnetic frustration as a function of temperature. In doublon doped systems, we uncover a crossover between Nagaoka-type ferromagnetic (FM) correlations at high temperature and exchange mediated antiferromagnetic (AFM) order around the doublon at low temperature. For hole-doped systems, kinetic Haerter-Shastry-type AFM at high temperature as well as exchange interactions at low temperature favor ${120}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ order, strengthening magnetic correlations compared to the undoped system. In the ground state, the presence of AFM correlations throughout a wide range of interactions indicates confinement of both types of dopants. In this regime we firmly establish the presence of linear confining potentials via energy scaling arguments, supporting the picture of geometric strings in the frustrated triangular $t\ensuremath{-}J$ model.
Unraveling the microscopic mechanisms governing the physics of doped quantum magnets is key to advancing our understanding of strongly correlated quantum matter. Quantum simulation platforms, e.g., ultracold atoms in optical lattices or tweezer arrays, provide a powerful tool to investigate the interplay between spin and charge motion in microscopic detail. Here, in a twist, we disentangle the role of particle statistics from the physics of strong correlations by exploring the strong coupling limit of doped bosonic quantum magnets, specifically the antiferromagnetic (AFM) bosonic t − J model. Using large-scale density matrix renormalization group calculations, we map out the phase diagram on the two-dimensional square lattice at finite doping. In the low-doping regime, bosonic holes form partially filled stripes, akin to those observed in high- T c cuprates. As doping increases, a transition occurs to a partially polarized ferromagnetic (FM) phase, driven by the motion of mobile bosonic charge carriers forming Nagaoka polarons. At high doping or large t / J , the system evolves into a fully polarized FM. These findings shed light on the role of particle statistics in strongly correlated many-body systems, revealing connections to stripe formation and the physics of kinetic (Nagaoka-type) ferromagnetism. Our results may be realized in state-of-the-art quantum simulation platforms, including bosonic quantum gas microscopes, Rydberg atom tweezer arrays, and ultracold polar molecules, paving the way for future experimental studies of doped bosonic quantum magnets.
We study kinetic magnetism for the Fermi-Hubbard models in triangular type lattices, including a zigzag ladder, four- and six-legged triangular cylinders and a full two-dimensional triangular lattice. We focus on the regime of strong interactions, U≫t and filling factors around one electron per site. For temperatures well above the hopping strength, the Curie-Weiss form of the magnetic susceptibility suggests effective antiferromagnetic correlations for systems that are hole doped with respect to ν=1, and ferromagnetic correlations for systems with electron dopings. We show that these correlations arise from magnetic polaron dressing of charge carrier propagating in a spin incoherent Mott insulator. Effective interactions corresponding to these correlations can strongly exceed the magnetic super-exchange energy. In the case of hole doping, antiferromagnetic polarons originate from kinetic frustration of individual holes in a triangular lattice. In the case of electron doping, Nagaoka type ferromagnetic correlations are induced by propagating doublons. These results provide a theoretical explanation of recent experimental results in moire TMDC materials. To understand many-body states arising from antiferromagentic polarons at low temperatures, we study hole doped systems in finite magnetic fields. At low dopings and intermediate magnetic fields we find a magnetic polaron phase, separated from the fully polarized state by a metamagnetic transition. With decreasing magnetic field the system shows a tendency to phase separate, with hole rich regions forming antiferromagnetic spinbags. We demonstrate that direct observations of magnetic polarons in triangular lattices can be achieved in experiments with ultracold atoms, which allow measurements of three point hole-spin-spin correlations.
Kinetic-to-magnetic frustration crossover and linear confinement in the doped triangular t−J model
Microscopically understanding competing orders in strongly correlated systems is a key challenge in modern quantum many-body physics. For example, the study of magnetic polarons and their relation to pairing in the Fermi-Hubbard model in different geometries remains one of the central questions, and may help to understand the mechanism underlying unconventional superconductivity in cuprates or transition metal dichalcogenides. With recent advances in analog quantum simulation of the Fermi-Hubbard model on non-bipartite lattices, frustrated physics can now be explored experimentally in systems lacking particle-hole symmetry. Here, we study the singly doped t−J model on the triangular lattice, focusing on the competition between kinetic and magnetic frustration as a function of temperature. In doublon doped systems, we uncover a crossover between Nagaoka-type ferromagnetic (FM) correlations at high temperature and exchange mediated antiferromagnetic (AFM) order around the doublon at low temperature. For hole doped systems, kinetic Haerter-Shastry-type AFM at high temperature as well as exchange interactions at low temperature favor 120∘ order, strengthening magnetic correlations compared to the undoped system. In the ground state, the presence of AFM correlations throughout a wide range of interactions indicates confinement of both types of dopants. In this regime we firmly establish the presence of linear confining potentials via energy scaling arguments, supporting the picture of geometric strings in the frustrated triangular t−J model.
Analog quantum simulation provides a unique toolkit to investigate quantum many-body problems of whose solutions may be incredibly challenging. In particular, using ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices it realizes the Fermi Hubbard model, which is a fundamental model in condensed matter physics exhibiting properties relevant to many intriguing strongly-correlated systems. However, most quantum simulators of the Hubbard model have so far restricted to the square geometries. In addition, access to low temperatures where the exotic quantum phases are predicted to develop has still remained elusive. In this thesis, we engineer a novel optical lattice with dynamically tunable geometries and significantly reduced technical noises. We extend for the first time the study of quantum magnetism into the exotic phases in a Fermi Hubbard system with tunable geometric frustration. As we continuously tune our system from a square to a triangular lattice geometry, we observe a transition from a Néel antiferromagnet to a 120-degree spin spiral state. We then study, again for the first time, how doping affects a frustrated quantum magnet. To our surprise, we found an emergent ferromagnetic state with strong particle doping, which is absent on the hole-doped side and is in stark contrast with the particle-hole symmetric doping dependence in a square lattice. To shed light on the role of itinerant dopants in the emergence of these new magnetic properties, we furthermore leverage the unique single-particle resolution capabilities of our platform to probe higher-order density and spin correlations. These measurements hint at a new type of magnetism induced by kinetic frustration, which manifests as local antiferromagnetic correlations around hole dopants and and ferromagnetic correlations around particle dopants. Unlike magnetism induced by exchange or superexchange interactions, the energy associated with this mechanism is the kinetic energy, closely related to the famous rigorous results by Nagaoka. Furthermore, the dynamical tunability of the lattice allows adibatic engineering of quantum states in optical lattices. We discuss the preliminery efforts to prepare strongly-correlated states with significantly reduced temperatures, which may pave the way towards low temperature states in the Hubbard model.
Understanding ferromagnetism mechanism in doped Mott insulators on frustrated lattices remains challenging at intermediate coupling and finite doping. Here, we study the itinerant ferromagnetism and propose its mechanism in doped Mott insulators on a geometrically frustrated triangular lattice. Using large-scale density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) and unrestricted Hartree–Fock mean-field methods, we reveal that itinerant ferromagnetism appears at intermediate coupling (10 ≲ U ≪ ∞) near 50% electron doping in the triangular-lattice Hubbard model. By analyzing all microscopic hopping processes, we find that doublon-singlon exchange alone drives the fully polarized ferromagnetism and uncovers the particle-hole asymmetry. We also establish the magnetic phase diagram and compare local spin correlations with recent experiments. Random phase approximation and DMRG calculations consistently confirm that the ferromagnetism persists when SU(2) symmetry is explicitly broken by magnetic anisotropy. These results clarify a microscopic route to itinerant ferromagnetism at intermediate coupling and finite doping in doped Mott insulators. Understanding the mechanism of ferromagnetism in strongly correlated systems is an ongoing theoretical challenge and the Hubbard model is typically adopted to investigate such systems. Here, the authors numerically investigate the doped triangular Fermi-Hubbard model and show ferromagnetism at intermediate coupling and finite doping, which results from the interplay of kinetic doublon-singlon exchange and lattice geometry.