The main theme of this thesis is the interplay between superfluidity and localization, in a system of strongly correlated Bose particles. Driving this investigation is the search for yet unobserved phases of matter, such as the so-called supersolid. Using state-of-the- art, numerically exact computer simulations, we have carried out an extensive theoretical investigation of the effects of long-range interactions, inhomogeneity, disorder and frustration in a simple model of lattice Bosons. In particular, we explore the scenario of vacancy- and interstitial-based supersolid phases of hard core bosons on a square lattice, interacting repulsively via a nearest-neighbour and next-nearest neighbour potential. Secondly, in an attempt to model the physics of a layer of helium adsorbed on a corrugated substrate, an additional superlattice of the absorption sites is imposed to the system of hard core bosons, and the resulting low temperature phase diagram is studied. Finally, the possibility of actually inducing by disorder superfluidity (superglass) in a system that does not display it in the absence of disorder is demonstrated. The quantitative and qual- itative predictions at which we have arrived appear to be at least in principle testable experimentally, for example by performing measurements on ultracold atoms in optical lattices.
The main theme of this thesis is the interplay between superfluidity and localization, in a system of strongly correlated Bose particles. Driving this investigation is the search for yet unobserved phases of matter, such as the so-called supersolid. Using state-of-the- art, numerically exact computer simulations, we have carried out an extensive theoretical investigation of the effects of long-range interactions, inhomogeneity, disorder and frustration in a simple model of lattice Bosons. In particular, we explore the scenario of vacancy- and interstitial-based supersolid phases of hard core bosons on a square lattice, interacting repulsively via a nearest-neighbour and next-nearest neighbour potential. Secondly, in an attempt to model the physics of a layer of helium adsorbed on a corrugated substrate, an additional superlattice of the absorption sites is imposed to the system of hard core bosons, and the resulting low temperature phase diagram is studied. Finally, the possibility of actually inducing by disorder superfluidity (superglass) in a system that does not display it in the absence of disorder is demonstrated. The quantitative and qual- itative predictions at which we have arrived appear to be at least in principle testable experimentally, for example by performing measurements on ultracold atoms in optical lattices.
We investigate the quantum phases of monodispersed bosonic gases confined to a triangular lattice and interacting via a class of soft-shoulder potentials. The latter correspond to soft-core potentials with an additional hard-core onsite interaction. Using exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the low temperature phases for weak and strong interactions following a temperature quench are a homogeneous superfluid and a glass, respectively. The latter is an insulating phase characterized by inhomogeneity in the density distribution and structural disorder. Remarkably, we find that for intermediate interaction strengths a superglass occurs in an extended region of the phase diagram, where glassy behavior coexists with a sizable finite superfluid fraction. This glass phase is obtained in the absence of geometrical frustration or external disorder and is a result of the competition of quantum fluctuations and cluster formation in the corresponding classical ground state. For high enough temperature, the glass and superglass turn into a floating stripe solid and a supersolid, respectively. Given the simplicity and generality of the model, these phases should be directly relevant for state-of-the-art experiments with Rydberg-dressed atoms in optical lattices.
Bosonic excitations within long-range ordered, but strongly inhomogeneous phases have been studied in quite some detail. My thesis focuses instead on understanding the insulating, localized phase of disordered bosonic systems. In particular I study localization properties of strongly interacting bosons and spin systems in a disorder potential at zero temperature. I focus on simple, prototypical spin models (Ising model and XY model) in random fields on a Cayley tree with large connectivity. Regarding the nature of the quantum phase transition in strong disorder I find the following results: i) With a uniformly distributed disorder non-extensive excitations in the disordered phase are all localized. ii)Moreover, I find that the order arises due to a collective condensation, which is qualitatively distinct from a Bose Einstein condensation of single particle excitations into a delocalized state. In particular, in non-frustrated Bose glasses, I do not find evidence for a boson mobility edge in the Bose glass. These results are qualitatively different from claims in the recent literatures . Considering that (many body) localization of bosons is a kind of quantum glass transition, it is an interesting question to ask what phenomena occur, if the ingredients for more conventional (classical) glassy physics are added to a disordered bosons system, namely: random, frustrated interactions between the bosons. One can still think about such a system as bosons in a disordered potential, where the disordered potential is, at least partly, self-generated by random frustrated interactions between the bosons. This question takes us to the study of another type of disordered systems: glassy systems. Those are typically characterized by low temperature phases with an inhomogeneous density or magnetization pattern, which is extremely long-lived due to the occurrence of non-trivial ergodicity breaking. I study a solvable model of hard core bosons (pseudospins) subject to disorder and frustrating interactions. This solvable model provides insight into the possibility of coexistence of super uidity and glassy density order, as well as into the nature of the coexistence phase (the superglass). In particular, for the considered mean field model I prove the existence of a superglass phase. This complements the numerical evidence for such phases provided by quantum Monte Carlo investigations in finite dimensions and on random graphs. Those were, however, limited to finite temperature, and could thus not fully elucidate the structure of the phases at T = 0. In contrast, my analytical approach allows one to understand the quantum phase transition between glassy superfluid and insulator, and the non-trivial role played by glassy correlations. When the frustrated interactions are strong enough, the superfluid order may be destroyed. As I will show in a mean field model, this happens within the glass phase of the system, where a disorder induced superfluid-insulator phase transition takes place to give way to a frustrated Bose glass. The glassy background on top of which this happens leads to many interesting phenomena which seem not to have been noticed before. To understand the nature of the glassy superfluid-insulator quantum phase transition at zero temperature and the transport properties on the insulating, Bose glass side of the transition is the goal of the third part of my thesis. To address the above questions, I studied an exactly solvable model of a glassy superfluid-insulator quantum phase transition on a Bethe lattice geometry with high connectivity. My main results can be summarized as follows: i) I found that the superfluid-insulator transition is shifted to stronger hopping. This is a result of the pseudo gap in the density of states of the glass state, which tends to strongly disfavor the onset of superfluidity. ii) In the glassy insulator, the discrete local energy levels become broadened due to the quantum fluctuations.The level-broadening process appears as a phase transition which has strong similarities with an Anderson localization transition, and has implications on many body localization. By using the locator expansion for bosons I found that, the glassy insulator has a finite mobility edge for the bosonic excitations, which, however, does not close upon approaching the SI quantum phase transition point. This finding helps to understand the nature of the superfluid-to-frustrated Bose glass transition: the superfluid emerges as a collective phase ordering phenomenon at zero temperature, and not as a condensation in to a single particle delocalized state, in contrast to opposite predictions in the recent literatures. The existence of a mobility edge in the insulator suggests the possibility of phononless, activated transport in the bosonic insulator, which might be a candidate explanation for the experimentally seen activated transport, which has remained a mystery for a long time.
We investigate the quantum phases of monodispersed bosonic gases confined to a triangular lattice and interacting via a class of soft-shoulder potentials. The latter correspond to soft-core potentials with an additional hard-core onsite interaction. Using exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the low temperature phases for weak and strong interactions are an homogeneous superfluid and a glass, respectively. The latter is an insulating phase characterized by inhomogeneity in the density distribution and structural disorder. Remarkably, we find that for intermediate interaction strengths a {\it superglass} occurs in an extended region of the phase diagram, where glassy behavior coexists with a sizable finite superfluid fraction. This superglass is obtained in the absence of geometrical frustration or external disorder and is a result of the competition of quantum fluctuations and cluster formation in the corresponding classical ground state. Given the simplicity and generality of the model, these phases should be directly relevant for state-of-the-art experiments with Rydberg-dressed atoms in optical lattices.
Disorder is ubiquitous in condensed matter systems, but a thorough understanding of these systems is hindered by poor control over the nature of disorder and competing interactions. Ultracold gases trapped in optical lattices, on the other hand, offer an unprecedented level of control over interactions and disorder, and are ideal candidates to test theoretical predictions and study fascinating phenomena resulting from the interplay between disorder, interaction, and quantum degeneracy. In this dissertation, I present my research on strongly correlated many-body lattice bosons in the presence of disordered potentials. My results are based on quantum Monte Carlo simulations by the Worm algorithm. Experimentally, lattice bosons can be realized by ultracold gases in optical lattices. I studied the ground state phase diagram of the above systems in the presence of diagonal (quasi-periodic disordered potential or random disordered potential) and off-diagonal disorder (in the form of site dilution). First, I will discuss the ground state phase diagram of two-dimensional bosons in quasi-periodic lattices. Then, I will discuss the phase diagram as well as finite temperature thermodynamic properties of two-dimensional dipolar lattice bosons in the presence of random diagonal disordered potentials. Finally, I will discuss the phase diagram of two-dimensional hard-core lattice bosons system in the presence of long-range hopping and long-range two-body interactions both in the absence of disorder and in the presence of site dilution (equivalent to off-diagonal disorder). This system is equivalent to the long-range XXZ model as realized by polar molecules trapped in a deep optical lattice. These results provide theoretical guidance for experimentalists to find quantum phase transitions as well as exotic quantum phases in strongly correlated bosonic lattice systems.
The search and characterization of supersolid phases remain a central topic in condensed matter physics. Inspired by the experimental discovery of local superfluid and insulating phases in two-dimensional moiré optical lattices [Meng et al., Nature 615, 231 (2023)], we systematically explore the emergence of a local supersolid (lSS) phase in a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model subjected to a moiré potential, using the density-matrix renormalization group method. We impose a maximum site occupation nmax=2 to realize the soft-core boson constraint. In the absence of nearest-neighbor repulsion, we identify the conventional superfluid, local superfluid, Mott insulator, and moiré-induced insulator phases. When the nearest-neighbor repulsion is turned on, the lSS phase emerges in the strong-moiré regime. This phase is uniquely characterized by three key signatures: (i) coexisting local staggered density order and local off-diagonal coherence within isolated moiré supercells; (ii) exponentially decaying global off-diagonal correlations; and (iii) a vanishing global structure factor in the thermodynamic limit, while the local structure factor remains finite. These features clearly distinguish the lSS from the conventional global supersolid (SS) phase, which exhibits algebraic correlations and a finite global structure factor. Our results provide a complete microscopic picture of local quantum phases in moiré lattices and offer clear experimental observables for detecting lSS states with ultracold atoms.
The central aim of this thesis is the study of the low-energy and low-temperature properties of strongly correlated systems of bosonic particles interacting via finite- and long-range potentials, and relevant to experimental realization with cold atomic gases. This study is carried out with a combination of state-of-the-art numerical techniques such as Path Integral Monte Carlo and analytical techniques. The main result of my work is the demonstration of the existence of a stripe supersolid phase and of a rare transition between isotropic and anisotropic supersolids in a finite-range interacting model of hard-bosons on a square lattice. I also investigate the out-of-equilibrium scenarios of such models via simulated temperature quenches. Finally, I investigate how restoring energy extensivity in long-range interacting systems can have a profound incidence on the low-energy properties in the thermodynamic limit.