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Physical Review Letters

Disordered bosons: Critical phenomena and evidence for new low energy excitations

M. S. Makivić, Nandini Trivedi, Salman Ullah

Published Oct 4, 1993• 94 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We study the T=0 critical properties of the superfluid-insulator transition in 2D hard core Bose systems with disorder. Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations and finite size scaling on 64\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}64 lattices we find the dynamical exponent z=0.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1 and the correlation length exponent \ensuremath{\nu}=2.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2. At the transition, the system is metallic with a conductivity ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\sigma}}}_{\mathit{c}}$=(1.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)(${\mathit{e}}^{\mathrm{*}}$${)}^{2}$/h and a nonzero compressibility \ensuremath{\kappa}\ensuremath{\ne}0. These conclusions differ from the existing scaling theory as well as from simulations on simplified models argued to be in the same universality class. Our results are suggestive of new low lying collective excitations (modified from usual phonons) in the disordered system.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.71.2307

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The ground-state of hard-core bosons in a random one-body potential is studied numerically to observe the transition from superfluid to insulating ``Bose glass'' phase. Finite-size scaling analyses are performed to estimate the transition point and critical exponents. The dynamical critical exponent is z=1.95\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.25 and is consistent with the prediction of Fisher et al. [Phys. Rev. B 40, 546 (1989)]. Values for other exponents and preliminary results regarding the universal conductivity are presented.
Recently, the scaling result z=dz=dz=d for the dynamic critical exponent at the Bose glass to superfluid quantum phase transition has been questioned both on theoretical and numerical grounds. This motivates a careful evaluation of the critical exponents in order to determine the actual value of zzz. We study a model of quantum bosons at T=0T=0T=0 with disorder in 2D using highly effective worm Monte Carlo simulations. Our data analysis is based on a finite-size scaling approach to determine the scaling of the quantum correlation time from simulation data for boson world lines. The resulting critical exponents are $z=1.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05$, $\ensuremath{\nu}=1.15\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03$, and $\ensuremath{\eta}=\ensuremath{-}0.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1$, hence suggesting that z=2z=2z=2 is not satisfied.
We determine the dynamical critical exponent z appearing at the Bose glass to superfluid transition in two dimensions by performing large scale numerical studies of two microscopically different quantum models within the universality class: The hard-core boson model and the quantum rotor (soft core) model, both subject to strong on-site disorder. By performing many simulations at different system size L and inverse temperature β close to the quantum critical point, the position of the critical point and the critical exponents, z, ν, and η can be determined independently of any implicit assumptions of the numerical value of z, in contrast to most prior studies. This is done by a careful scaling analysis close to the critical point with a particular focus on the temperature dependence of the scaling functions. For the hard-core boson model we find z=1.88(8), ν=0.99(3), and η=-0.16(8) with a critical field of h(c)=4.79(3), while for the quantum rotor model we find z=1.99(5), ν=1.00(2), and η=-0.3(1) with a critical hopping parameter of t(c)=0.0760(5). In both cases do we find a correlation length exponent consistent with ν=1, saturating the bound ν≥2/d as well as a value of z significantly larger than previous studies, and for the quantum rotor model consistent with z=d.
This thesis presents results from large scale Monte Carlo simulations of systems subject to a superfluid phase transition in the presence of disorder. The simulations are performed by state-of-the-art, collective Monte Carlo algorithms treating phase degrees of freedom in effective models with amplitude fluctuations integrated out. In Paper I a model system for the possible solid to supersolid transition in 4He is presented.The Wolff cluster algorithm is used to study how the presence of linearly correlated random defects is able to alter the universality class of the 3-dimensional XY-model. In the pure case the superfluid density and heat capacity have singular onsets, which are not seen in the supersolid experiments where instead a smooth onset is obtained. Using finite size scaling of Monte Carlo data, we find a similar smooth onset in our simulations, governed by exponents ν=1 for the superfluid density and α=-1 for the heat capacity. These results are in qualitative agreement with experiments for the observed transition in solid 4He. In Paper II a systematic investigation of the scaling result z=d for the dynamic critical exponentat the Bose glass to superfluid quantum phase transition is performed. The result z=d has been believed to be exact for about 20 years, but although it has been questioned lately no accurate estimate of z has been available. An effective link current model of quantum bosons at T=0 with disorder in 2D is simulated using highly effective worm Monte Carlo simulations.The data analysis is based on a finite size scaling approach todetermine the quantum correlation time from simulationdata for boson world lines without any a priori assumption on the critical parameters. The resulting critical exponents are z=1.8 \pm 0.05, ν=1.15 \pm 0.03, and η=-0.3 \pm 0.1. This suggests that z=d is not satisfied.
We investigate the superfluid (SF) to Bose-glass (BG) quantum phase transition using extensive quantum Monte Carlo simulations of two-dimensional hard-core bosons in a random box potential. T=0 critical properties are studied by thorough finite-size scaling of condensate and SF densities, both vanishing at the same critical disorder Wc=4.80(5). Our results give the following estimates for the critical exponents: z=1.85(15), ν=1.20(12), η=-0.40(15). Furthermore, the probability distribution of the SF response P(lnρSF) displays striking differences across the transition: while it narrows with increasing system sizes L in the SF phase, it broadens in the BG regime, indicating an absence of self-averaging, and at the critical point P(lnρSF+zlnL) is scale invariant. Finally, high-precision measurements of the local density rule out a percolation picture for the SF-BG transition.