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Quantum phase transitions in disordered Bose systems

Ranjan Mukhopadhyay

Published Feb 15, 2007• 0 citations
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Abstract

NOTE: Text or symbols not renderable in plain ASCII are indicated by [...]. Abstract is included in .pdf document. We study the nature of various quantum phase transitions corresponding to the onset of superfluidity, at zero temperature, of bosons in a quenched medium. Particle-hole symmetry plays an essential role in determining the universality class of the transitions. To obtain a model with an exact particle-hole symmetry it is necessary to use the Josephson junction array Hamiltonian, which may include disorder in the Josephson couplings between phases at different sates. The functional integral formulation of this problem in d spatial dimensions yields a (d + 1)-dimensional classical XY-model with extended disorder, constant along the extra imaginary time dimension -- the so-called random rod problem. Particle-hole symmetry may then be broken by adding nonzero chemical potentials or site energies, which may also be site dependent and random. We may then distinguish three cases: (i) exact particle-hole symmetry, in which the site energies all vanish, (ii) statistical particle-hole symmetry in which the site energy distribution is symmetric about zero and hence vanishes on average, and (iii) complete absence of particle-hole symmetry in which the distribution is generic. We explore in each case the nature of the excitations in the nonsuperfluid Pose glass phase. We find, for example, that the compressibility, which has the interpretation of a temporal spin stiffness or superfluid density, is positive in cases (ii) and (iii), but that it vanishes with an essential singularity as full particle-hole symmetry is restored. We then focus on the critical point and discuss the validity of various scaling arguments. In particular, we argue that the dynamical exponent z could be different from d, and the arguments leading to their equality are incorrect. We then discuss the relevance of a type (ii) particle-hole symmetry breaking perturbation to the random rod critical behavior, identifying a nontrivial crossover exponent. This exponent cannot be calculated exactly but is argued to be positive and the symmetry breaking perturbation therefore relevant. We argue next that a perturbation of type (iii) is irrelevant to the resulting type (ii) critical behavior: the statistical symmetry is restored on large scales close to the critical point, and case (ii) therefore describes the dirty boson fixed point. Using various duality transformations we verify all of these ideas in one dimension. To study higher dimensions we attempt, with partial success, to generalize the Dorogovtsev-Cardy-Boyonovsky double epsilon expansion technique to this problem. We find that when the dimension of time [...] is sufficiently small the symmetry breaking perturbation of type (ii) is irrelevant, but that for sufficiently large [...] this is a relevant perturbation and a new stable commensurate fixed point appears. We speculate that this new fixed point becomes the dirty boson fixed point when [...] = 1. We also show that for [...], there exists a particle-hole asymmetric fixed point of type (iii), but we provide evidence that it merges with the commensurate fixed point for some finite [...]. This tends to confirm symmetry restoration at the physical [...] = 1.

DOI
10.7907/xx11-da13

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NOTE: Text or symbols not renderable in plain ASCII are indicated by [...]. Abstract is included in .pdf document. We study the nature of various quantum phase transitions corresponding to the onset of superfluidity, at zero temperature, of bosons in a quenched medium. Particle-hole symmetry plays an essential role in determining the universality class of the transitions. To obtain a model with an exact particle-hole symmetry it is necessary to use the Josephson junction array Hamiltonian, which may include disorder in the Josephson couplings between phases at different sates. The functional integral formulation of this problem in d spatial dimensions yields a (d + 1)-dimensional classical XY-model with extended disorder, constant along the extra imaginary time dimension -- the so-called random rod problem. Particle-hole symmetry may then be broken by adding nonzero chemical potentials or site energies, which may also be site dependent and random. We may then distinguish three cases: (i) exact particle-hole symmetry, in which the site energies all vanish, (ii) statistical particle-hole symmetry in which the site energy distribution is symmetric about zero and hence vanishes on average, and (iii) complete absence of particle-hole symmetry in which the distribution is generic. We explore in each case the nature of the excitations in the nonsuperfluid Pose glass phase. We find, for example, that the compressibility, which has the interpretation of a temporal spin stiffness or superfluid density, is positive in cases (ii) and (iii), but that it vanishes with an essential singularity as full particle-hole symmetry is restored. We then focus on the critical point and discuss the validity of various scaling arguments. In particular, we argue that the dynamical exponent z could be different from d, and the arguments leading to their equality are incorrect. We then discuss the relevance of a type (ii) particle-hole symmetry breaking perturbation to the random rod critical behavior, identifying a nontrivial crossover exponent. This exponent cannot be calculated exactly but is argued to be positive and the symmetry breaking perturbation therefore relevant. We argue next that a perturbation of type (iii) is irrelevant to the resulting type (ii) critical behavior: the statistical symmetry is restored on large scales close to the critical point, and case (ii) therefore describes the dirty boson fixed point. Using various duality transformations we verify all of these ideas in one dimension. To study higher dimensions we attempt, with partial success, to generalize the Dorogovtsev-Cardy-Boyonovsky double epsilon expansion technique to this problem. We find that when the dimension of time [...] is sufficiently small the symmetry breaking perturbation of type (ii) is irrelevant, but that for sufficiently large [...] this is a relevant perturbation and a new stable commensurate fixed point appears. We speculate that this new fixed point becomes the dirty boson fixed point when [...] = 1. We also show that for [...], there exists a particle-hole asymmetric fixed point of type (iii), but we provide evidence that it merges with the commensurate fixed point for some finite [...]. This tends to confirm symmetry restoration at the physical [...] = 1.
We study the role of particle-hole symmetry on the universality class of various quantum phase transitions corresponding to the onset of superfluidity at zero temperature of bosons in a quenched random medium. To obtain a model with an exact particle-hole symmetry it is necessary to use the Josephson junction array, or quantum rotor, Hamiltonian, which may include disorder in both the site energies and the Josephson couplings between wave function phase operators at different sites. The functional integral formulation of this problem in ddd spatial dimensions yields a (d+1)(d+1)(d+1)-dimensional classical XYXYXY model with extended disorder, constant along the extra imaginary time dimension---the so-called random rod problem. Particle-hole symmetry may then be broken by adding nonzero site energies, which may be uniform or site dependent. We may distinguish three cases: (i) exact particle-hole symmetry, in which the site energies all vanish; (ii) statistical particle-hole symmetry, in which the site energy distribution is symmetric about zero, vanishing on average; and (iii) complete absence of particle-hole symmetry in which the distribution is generic. We explore in each case the nature of the excitations in the nonsuperfluid Mott insulating and Bose glass phases. We show, in particular, that, since the boundary of the Mott phase can be derived exactly in terms of that for the pure, nondisordered system, there can be no direct Mott-superfluid transition. Recent Monte Carlo data to the contrary can be explained in terms of rare region effects that are inaccessible to finite systems. We find also that the Bose glass compressibility, which has the interpretation of a temporal spin stiffness or superfluid density, is positive in cases (ii) and (iii), but that it vanishes with an essential singularity as full particle-hole symmetry is restored. We then focus on the critical point and discuss the relevance of type (ii) particle-hole symmetry-breaking perturbations to the random rod critical behavior, identifying a nontrivial crossover exponent. This exponent cannot be calculated exactly but is argued to be positive and the perturbation therefore relevant. We argue next that a perturbation of type (iii) is irrelevant to the resulting type (ii) critical behavior: The statistical symmetry is restored on large scales close to the critical point, and case (ii) therefore describes the dirty boson fixed point. Using various duality transformations we verify all of these ideas in one dimension. To study higher dimensions, we attempt, with partial success, to generalize the Dorogovtsev--Cardy--Boyanovsky double-epsilon expansion technique to this problem. We find that when the dimension of time ${ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}<{ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}^{c}\ensuremath{\simeq}\frac{8}{29}$ is sufficiently small a type (ii) symmetry-breaking perturbation is irrelevant, but that for sufficiently large ${ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}>{ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}^{c}$ particle-hole asymmetry is a relevant perturbation and a new stable fixed point appears. Furthermore, for ${ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}>{ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}^{c2}\ensuremath{\approx}\frac{2}{3}$, this fixed point is stable also to perturbations of type (iii): at $ϵ={ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}^{c2}$ the generic type (iii) fixed point merges with the new fixed point. We speculate, therefore, that this new fixed point becomes the dirty boson fixed point when ${ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}=1$. We point out, however, that ${ϵ}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}=1$ may be quite special. Thus, although the qualitative renormalization group flow picture the double-epsilon expansion technique provides is quite compelling, one should remain wary of applying it quantitatively to the dirty boson problem.
The phase diagrams and phase transitions of bosons with short-ranged repulsive interactions moving in periodic and/or random external potentials at zero temperature are investigated with emphasis on the superfluid-insulator transition induced by varying a parameter such as the density. Bosons in periodic potentials (e.g., on a lattice) at T=0 exhibit two types of phases: a superfluid phase and Mott insulating phases characterized by integer (or commensurate) boson densities, by the existence of a gap for particle-hole excitations, and by zero compressibility. Generically, the superfluid onset transition in d dimensions from a Mott insulator to superfluidity is ``ideal,'' or mean field in character, but at special multicritical points with particle-hole symmetry it is in the universality class of the (d+1)-dimensional XY model. In the presence of disorder, a third, ``Bose glass'' phase exists. This phase is insulating because of the localization effects of the randomness and analogous to the Fermi glass phase of interacting fermions in a strongly disordered potential.The Bose glass phase is characterized by a finite compressibility, no gap, but an infinite superfluid susceptibility. In the presence of disorder the transition to superfluidity is argued to occur only from the Bose glass phase, and never directly from the Mott insulator. This zero-temperature superfluid-insulator transition is studied via generalizations of the Josephson scaling relation for the superfluid density at the ordinary \ensuremath{\lambda} transition, highlighting the crucial role of quantum fluctuations. The transition is found to have a dynamic critical exponent z exactly equal to d and correlation length and order-parameter correlation exponents \ensuremath{\nu} and \ensuremath{\eta} which satisfy the bounds \ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\ge}2/d and \ensuremath{\eta}\ensuremath{\le}2-d, respectively. It is argued that the superfluid-insulator transition in the presence of disorder may have an upper critical dimension dc{d}_{c}dc​ which is infinite, but a perturbative renormalization-group calculation wherein the critical exponents have mean-field values for weak disorder above d=4 is also discussed. Many of these conclusions are verified by explicit calculations on a model of one-dimensional bosons in the presence of both random and periodic potentials. The general results are applied to experiments on 4He^{4}\mathrm{He}4He absorbed in porous media such as Vycor. Some measurable properties of the superfluid onset are predicted exactly [e.g., the exponent x relating the \ensuremath{\lambda} transition temperature to the zero-temperature superfluid density is found to be d/2(d-1)], while stringent bounds are placed on others. Analysis of preliminary data is consistent with these predictions.
The generic Hamiltonian describing the zero temperature transition between the insulating Bose glass phase and the superfluid phase lacks particle-hole symmetry, but a statistical version of this symmetry is believed to be restored at the critical point. We show that the renormalization group relevance of particle-hole asymmetry may be explored in a controlled fashion only for small time dimensions, ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}\ensuremath{\ll}1$, where we find a stable particle-hole asymmetric and an unstable particle-hole symmetric fixed point, but we provide evidence that the two merge for some finite ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}\ensuremath{\approx}\frac{2}{3}$, which tends to confirm symmetry restoration at the physical ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}1$.
I argue that the system of interacting bosons at zero temperature and in random external potential possesses a simple critical point that describes the proliferation of disorder-induced defects in the superfluid ground state, and that is located at weak disorder close to and above one dimension. This makes it possible to address the critical behavior at the superfluid-Bose glass transition in dirty boson systems by expanding around the lower critical dimension of d=1.d=1.d=1. Within the formulated renormalization procedure near d=1,d=1,d=1, the dynamical critical exponent is obtained exactly and the correlation length critical exponent is calculated as a Laurent series in the parameter $\sqrt{\ensuremath{\epsilon}},$ with $\ensuremath{\epsilon}=d\ensuremath{-}1:$ z=d,z=d,z=d, $\ensuremath{\nu}=1/\sqrt{3\ensuremath{\epsilon}}+O(\sqrt{\ensuremath{\epsilon}})$ for the short-range, and z=1,z=1,z=1, $\ensuremath{\nu}=\sqrt{2/3\ensuremath{\epsilon}}+O(\sqrt{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}),$ for the long-range Coulomb interaction between bosons. The identified critical point should be stable against the residual perturbations in the effective action for the superfluid, at least in dimensions 1< d< 2,1<~d<~2,1< d< 2, for both short-range and Coulomb interactions. For the superfluid-Mott insulator transition in the system in a periodic potential and at a commensurate density of bosons, I find $\ensuremath{\nu}=(\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\ensuremath{\epsilon}})+\frac{1}{4}+O(\sqrt{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}),$ which yields a result in reasonable agreement with the known XY\mathrm{XY}XY critical exponent in d=2.d=2.d=2. The critical behavior of the superfluid density, phonon velocity, and the compressibility in the system with short-range interactions is discussed.
We study the superfluid-insulator transition in a one-dimensional system of interacting bosons, modeled as a disordered Josephson array, using a strong-randomness real-space renormalization-group technique. Unlike perturbative methods, this approach does not suffer from run-away flows and allows us to study the complete phase diagram. We show that the superfluid-insulator transition is always Kosterlitz-Thouless like in the way that length and time scales diverge at the critical point. Interestingly however, we find that the transition at strong disorder occurs at a nonuniversal value of the Luttinger parameter, which depends on the disorder strength. This result places the transition in a universality class different from the weak disorder transition first analyzed by Giamarchi and Schulz [Europhys. Lett. 3, 1287 (1987)]. While the details of the disorder potential are unimportant at the critical point, the type of disorder does influence the properties of the insulating phases. We find three classes of insulators which arise for different classes of disorder potential. For disorder only in the charging energies and Josephson coupling constants, at integer filling we find an incompressible but gapless Mott-glass phase. If both integer and half-integer filling factors are allowed then the corresponding phase is a random-singlet insulator, which has a divergent compressibility. Finally in a generic disorder potential the insulator is a Bose glass with a finite compressibility.
We study the zero-temperature superfluid-insulator transition for a two-dimensional model of interacting, lattice bosons in the presence of quenched disorder and particle-hole symmetry. We follow the approach of a recent series of papers by Altman, Kafri, Polkovnikov, and Refael, in which the strong disorder renormalization group is used to study disordered bosons in one dimension. Adapting this method to two dimensions, we study several different species of disorder and uncover universal features of the superfluid-insulator transition. In particular, we locate an unstable finite disorder fixed point that governs the transition between the superfluid and a gapless, glassy insulator. We present numerical evidence that this glassy phase is the incompressible Mott glass and that the transition from this phase to the superfluid is driven by a percolation-type process. Finally, we provide estimates of the critical exponents governing this transition.