Bosons in optical lattices may exhibit interesting quantum phenomena like fragmentation and coherence. Applying direct diagonalization to a small system, we explore different aspects of such setup: We show that, for a microscopic sample, the superfluid to Mott transition can be characterized by ground state overlaps with analytic trial states for both regimes. We also study a variant of the Mott transition in an inhomogeneous lattice, where one potential minimum is made much deeper than the others. Finally, we turn our attention to attractively interacting systems, and discuss the appearance of strongly correlated phases and the onset of localization for a slightly biased lattice.
Bosons in optical lattices may exhibit interesting quantum phenomena like fragmentation and coherence. Applying direct diagonalization to a small system, we explore different aspects of such setup: We show that, for a microscopic sample, the superfluid to Mott transition can be characterized by ground state overlaps with analytic trial states for both regimes. We also study a variant of the Mott transition in an inhomogeneous lattice, where one potential minimum is made much deeper than the others. Finally, we turn our attention to attractively interacting systems, and discuss the appearance of strongly correlated phases and the onset of localization for a slightly biased lattice.
Abstract Exact diagonalization (ED) techniques are a powerful method for studying many-body problems. Here, we apply this method to systems of few bosons in an optical lattice, and use it to demonstrate the emergence of interesting quantum phenomena such as fragmentation and coherence. Starting with a standard Bose–Hubbard Hamiltonian, we first revise the characterisation of the superfluid to Mott insulator (MI) transitions. We then consider an inhomogeneous lattice, where one potential minimum is made much deeper than the others. The MI phase due to repulsive on-site interactions then competes with the trapping of all atoms in the deep potential. Finally, we turn our attention to attractively interacting systems, and discuss the appearance of strongly correlated phases and the onset of localisation for a slightly biased lattice. The article is intended to serve as a tutorial for ED of Bose–Hubbard models.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices undergo a quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator as the lattice potential depth is increased. We describe an approximate theory of interacting bosons in optical lattices which provides a qualitative description of both superfluid and insulator states. The theory is based on a change of variables in which the boson coherent state amplitude is replaced by an effective potential which promotes phase coherence between different number states on each lattice site. It is illustrated here by applying it to uniform and fully frustrated lattice cases but is simple enough that it can be applied to spatially inhomogeneous lattice systems.
We explore the consequences of disorder on phase coherence in the Mott insulator phases in an optical lattice. Few bosons with contact interaction in small optical lattice can feature varieties of insulating phases---weakly interacting Mott in deep lattice, maximally fragmented and strongly interacting Mott in intermediate lattice, weak Mott with double filling and intrawell coherence, fermionized Mott with strong intrawell coherence. Utilization of the multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree method for bosons to solve the many-boson Schr\"odinger equation, facilitates to understand the microscopic effect of disorder on the different kinds of Mott phases in the primary lattice. The many-body properties are analyzed by distinct measures of the reduced one-body density in real and momentum space, fragmentation, order parameter, variance of spatial single-shot measurements, compressibility, and the Glauber normalized correlation functions. We find very complex competition of localization due to disorder and Mott correlation. We observe distinct response of four different Mott phases in the disordered lattice. When the weakly interacting Mott exhibits the Bose glass phase, the strongly correlated and fully fragmented Mott exhibits leakage, melting and central localization. In contrast, weak Mott with double filling which is a spatially separated dimer in each site, exhibits only some dissociation of intrawell coherence and assist in the development of interwell coherence in the presence of strong disorder. For the fermionized Mott, when the density in each well is fragmented, strong disorder interferes with the intrawell correlation and the characteristic dip in each site starts to disappear leading to simple Mott localization with a pair of bosons.
A major focus in condensed matter physics is to study the origin of exotic quantum phases such as coexistent and inhomogeneous phases, quantum criticality, and secondary ordered phases close to quantum critical points. Exotic phenomena in strongly correlated systems occur due to competing complex interactions of spin, charge, lattice, and orbital degrees of freedom. Complex quantum phases in strongly correlated systems are challenging, but they might be very useful due to their possible functionality to make advance devices. In order to understand, utilize, and optimize such behaviors, we need to improve our understanding of these systems. Studies in cold atom systems are of interest since cold atom experiments provide a control on model parameters. In this thesis, we use novel analytical and computational techniques to treat strongly interacting bosonic systems. Taking advantage of the very versatile quantum Monte Carlo Stochastic Green Function algorithm, we studied several interesting problems. First, we explore a recently developed new confining method for cold atoms on optical lattices. Atoms are confined via a hopping integral that decreases as a function of the distance from the center of the lattice. This method might lead to lower temperatures than existing diagonal confinement methods. Next, we study the ground state phase diagram of interacting bosons on a ring-shape lattice with a region of weak hopping integrals. The model, an extension of the well known Bose-Hubbard model, develops a novel local Mott phase in addition to the usual Mott and superfluid phases in the homogeneous system. This might provide a new insight to the description of atomtronics applications. Finally, we study the two species Bose Hubbard model in a two-dimensional lattice. This model presents novel phases due to the complexity associated with multiple species. Its phase diagram shows ordered and coexistence phases including a ferromagnetic phase separated phase with high entropy. This phase might be accessible experimentally. The novel phases found from our studies are linked to experiments on ultra-cold atoms trapped by laser beams.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices have proven to be a versatile model system in which strong correlation effects in a many-body quantum system can be studied [1]. The tunability and control over almost all underlying system parameters makes them rather unique and allows one to switch between different ground states of the underlying many-body quantum system. One of the most prominent effects in this respect is the quantum phase transition (QPT) from a superfluid (SF) to a Mott insulator (MI) that started the field of strong-correlation physics with ultracold gases. First theoretically proposed by Fisher et al. [2], the Bose-Hubbard model (BHM) was introduced into the field of ultracold atoms by Jaksch et al. [3], eventually being realized in subsequent experiments [4-7]. This article focuses on giving a brief summary of the main results achieved in the SF-MI transition with ultracold bosons in optical lattices. A brief introduction into the setup of optical lattices is followed by a discussion of key results such as the coherence properties, the density profiles, transport properties and SF characteristics across the QPT.
We study theoretically a BEC loaded into an optical lattice in the tight-binding regime, with a second, weak incommensurate lattice acting as a perturbation. We find, using direct diagonalization of small systems and a large scale, number conserving Gutzwiller-based mean field approach, the phase diagram of the model. We show that the superfluid, Mott-insulator and Bose-glass phases familiar from disordered systems appear here as well, with a localization transition occurring already in a 1D geometry, contrary to the well known Anderson localization. We complement these results with GPE simulations, and stress the fundamental difference between commensurate and incommensurate lattices. These results, together with calculations we have performed for realistic scenarios, suggest that this setup is well suited for available experimental realizations.