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Molecular Physics

Bose soft discs: a minimal model for supersolidity

Sebastiano Saccani, Saverio Moroni, E. Vitali, Massimo Boninsegni

Published Dec 10, 2011• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The low temperature phase diagram of an assembly of Bose particles, interacting via a simple soft disc potential, is studied numerically by means of Monte Carlo simulations. At sufficiently high densities, the system features a cluster crystal phase, as observed in its classical counterpart. In the low temperature limit, and in a relatively wide region of parameter space, the quantum cluster crystal undergoes a transition to a supersolid phase, displaying both a finite superfluid fraction and crystalline order. We argue that soft-core Bosons ought be regarded as a ‘minimal model’ of continuous-space supersolidity. With the aim of elucidating the interplay between superfluid response and solid order, we compute the excitation spectrum of the system. A comparison of that of the insulating cluster crystal with that of the supersolid, shows that the latter features an additional acoustic mode.

DOI
10.1080/00268976.2011.615346

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The low temperature phase diagram of an assembly of Bose particles, interacting via a simple soft disc potential, is studied numerically by means of Monte Carlo simulations. At sufficiently high densities, the system features a cluster crystal phase, as observed in its classical counterpart. In the low temperature limit, and in a relatively wide region of parameter space, the quantum cluster crystal undergoes a transition to a supersolid phase, displaying both a finite superfluid fraction and crystalline order. We argue that soft-core Bosons ought be regarded as a ‘minimal model’ of continuous-space supersolidity. With the aim of elucidating the interplay between superfluid response and solid order, we compute the excitation spectrum of the system. A comparison of that of the insulating cluster crystal with that of the supersolid, shows that the latter features an additional acoustic mode.
We investigate the zero-temperature excitation spectrum of two-dimensional soft-core bosons for a wide range of parameters and across the phase transition from a superfluid to a supersolid state. Based on mean-field calculations and recent quantum Monte Carlo results, we demonstrate the applicability of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, even at high interaction strengths where the system forms an insulating cluster crystal. Interestingly, our study reveals that the maximum energy of the longitudinal phonon band in the supersolid phase connects to the maxon energy of the superfluid at the phase transition.
By means of a mean-field method, we have studied the zero-temperature structure and excitation spectrum of a three-dimensional soft-core bosonic system for a value of the interaction strength that favors a crystal structure made of atomic nanoclusters arranged with fcc ordering. In addition to the longitudinal and transverse phonon branches expected for a normal crystal, the excitation spectrum shows a soft mode related to the breaking of gauge symmetry, which signals a partial superfluid character of the solid. Additional evidence of supersolidity is provided by the calculation of the superfluid fraction, which shows a first-order drop, from 1 to 0.4, at the liquid-supersolid transition and a monotonic decrease as the interaction strength parameter is increased. The conditions for the coexistence of the supersolid with the homogeneous superfluid are discussed, and the surface tension of a representative solid-liquid interface is calculated.
The supersolid phase of soft-core bosons in two dimensions is investigated using the self-consistent Hartree-Fock and quantum Monte Carlo methods. An approximate phase diagram at finite temperatures is initially constructed using the mean-field approach, which is subsequently validated through precise path-integral simulations, enabling a microscopic characterization of the various phases. Superfluid and melting/freezing transitions are analyzed through the superfluid density and the long-range behavior of correlation functions associated with positional and orientational order, in accordance with the general picture of Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions. A broad region at low temperatures is identified where the supersolid phase exists, separating the uniform superfluid phase from the normal quasicrystal phase. Additionally, a potential intermediate hexatic phase with quasi-long-range orientational order is identified in a narrow region between the normal solid and fluid phases. These findings establish self-consistent Hartree-Fock theory beyond the local density approximation as an effective tool, complementary to computationally intensive quantum Monte Carlo simulations, for investigating the melting of the supersolid phase and the possible emergence of the hexatic superfluid phase in bosonic systems with various interaction potentials.
More than 40 years ago, Andreev, Lifshitz and Chester suggested the possible existence of a peculiar solid phase of matter, the microscopic constituents of which can flow superfluidly without resistance due to the formation of zero-point defects in the ground state of self-assembled crystals. Yet, a physical system where this mechanism is unambiguously established remains to be found, both experimentally and theoretically. Here we investigate the zero-temperature phase diagram of two-dimensional bosons with finite-range soft-core interactions. For low particle densities, the system is shown to feature a solid phase in which zero-point vacancies emerge spontaneously and give rise to superfluid flow of particles through the crystal. This provides the first example of defect-induced, continuous-space supersolidity consistent with the Andreev–Lifshitz–Chester scenario. The peculiar supersolid phase of matter was predicted several decades ago, yet a physical system where it exists remains to be found. Cinti et al.investigate the zero-temperature phase diagram of bosons interacting by soft-core potentials and find that defects in it can give rise to a supersolid phase.
The ground state of a two-dimensional (2D) system of Bose particles of spin zero, interacting via a repulsive Gaussian-core potential, has been investigated by means of quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The quantum phase diagram is qualitatively identical to that of 2D Yukawa bosons. While the system is a fluid at all densities for weak coupling, in the strong-coupling regime it transitions upon compression from a low-density superfluid to a crystal, and then into a reentrant superfluid phase. No evidence of a (supersolid) cluster crystal phase is seen.
In two-dimensional bosonic systems ultrasoft interactions develop an interesting phenomenology that ultimately leads to the appearance of supersolid phases in free space conditions. While suggested in early theoretical works and despite many further analytical efforts, the appearance of these exotic phases as well as the detailed shape of the ground-state phase diagrams have not been established yet. Here we develop a variational mean-field calculation for a generic quantum system with cluster-forming interactions. We show that by including the restriction of a fixed integer number of particles per cluster the ground-state phase diagram can be obtained in great detail. The great detail includes the determination of coexistence regimes of crystals of different occupancy as well as crystals with superfluid phases. To illustrate the application of the method we consider the softened van der Waals potential, for which the phase diagram is known via quantum Monte Carlo simulations. For densities other than that corresponding to the single-particle crystal, our results show very good quantitative agreement with the simulations regarding the location of the superfluid transitions. Additionally, the phase diagrams suggest that the solid-superfluid coexistence could be a reliable marker to locate supersolidity.