Physics
Interactions between the charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom of electrons in condensed-matter systems can give rise to many complex electronic and magnetic phases. The narrow, or often fixed, range of variable materials parameters can be a limitation in probing and understanding the evolution of the order parameters of such complex correlated systems. An array of atoms trapped in an optical lattice has the potential to be extremely flexible in terms of tuning the parameters. Although the atoms tend to be isotropic, leading to somewhat trivial systems, much theoretical work has explored the possibilities of finding ways to imprint and detect more complicated order parameters on the lattice of trapped atoms. It is along such lines that Kitagawa et al. propose a spectroscopic technique based on two-particle interferometry that probes the phase-sensitive correlations between atom-atom interactions across the lattice. They show that the technique should allow the measurement of nontrivial order parameters in entangled ensembles of cold atoms, such as d- or p-wave pairing of electrons found in exotic superconductors and superfluids, and the realization of cold-atom systems that function as complex quantum simulators.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 , 115302 (2011).
Physics
Interactions between the charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom of electrons in condensed-matter systems can give rise to many complex electronic and magnetic phases. The narrow, or often fixed, range of variable materials parameters can be a limitation in probing and understanding the evolution of the order parameters of such complex correlated systems. An array of atoms trapped in an optical lattice has the potential to be extremely flexible in terms of tuning the parameters. Although the atoms tend to be isotropic, leading to somewhat trivial systems, much theoretical work has explored the possibilities of finding ways to imprint and detect more complicated order parameters on the lattice of trapped atoms. It is along such lines that Kitagawa et al. propose a spectroscopic technique based on two-particle interferometry that probes the phase-sensitive correlations between atom-atom interactions across the lattice. They show that the technique should allow the measurement of nontrivial order parameters in entangled ensembles of cold atoms, such as d- or p-wave pairing of electrons found in exotic superconductors and superfluids, and the realization of cold-atom systems that function as complex quantum simulators.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 , 115302 (2011).
Nontrivial symmetry of order parameters is crucial in some of the most interesting quantum many-body states of ultracold atoms as well as condensed matter systems. Examples in cold atoms include p-wave Feshbach molecules and d-wave paired states of fermions that could be realized in optical lattices in the Hubbard regime. Identifying these states in experiments requires measurements of the relative phase of different components of the entangled pair wave function. We propose and discuss two schemes for such phase-sensitive measurements, based on two-particle interference revealed in atom-atom or atomic density correlations. Our schemes can also be used for relative phase measurements for nontrivial particle-hole order parameters, such as d-density wave order.
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.
Many of the most exciting materials and phenomena being studied today, from oxide heterostructures to topological insulators or iron-based superconductors, are the ones in which an understanding of how quantum particles interact with each other is essential. In the last decade, the development and the improvement of quantum Monte Carlo algorithms combined with the increased power of computers has opened the way to the exact simulation of Hamiltonians that include various types of interactions, such as inter-species conversion terms or ring-exchange terms. Simultaneously, developments made in the field of optical lattices, laser cooling and magneto/optical trapping techniques have led to ideal realizations of such Hamiltonians. A wide variety of phases can be present, including Mott insulators and superfluids, as well as more exotic phases such as Haldane insulators, supersolids, counter-superfluids, or the recently proposed Feshbach insulator. These experimental realizations of the various forms of the Hubbard model can have interesting applications, in particular they provide a possible way of performing quantum computing, and have also given rise to a new field known as Atomtronics, the equivalent of Electronics where the carriers are replaced by atoms. I will illustrate these ideas with examples of Hamiltonians that have been studied and some results. In order to study these systems, it is crucial to identify the various phases that are present, which can be characterized by a set of order parameters. Of particular importance in this task is the superfluid density. It is well known that the superfluid density can be related to the response of the free energy to a boundary phase twist, or to the fluctuations of the winding number. However, these relationships break down when complex interactions are involved. To address this problem, I will propose a general expression of the superfluid density, derived from real and thought experiments. I will discuss two interesting applications of my method to the SF transition of softcore bosons with 2nd neighbor hopping and to atom-molecule mixtures.
Quantum simulation platforms such as cold atoms, superconducting circuits, and trapped ions enable the experimental investigation of quantum many-body systems, with important implications for quantum technologies. In this thesis, we investigate how entanglement and correlations develop in such systems and how they can be harnessed both for the theoretical study of models relevant to condensed matter physics and for practical applications in quantum metrology. We begin by focusing on the adiabatic preparation of quantum many-body ground states. In particular, we show that quantum simulators can probe the link between spectral degeneracy and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, as pioneered by P.W. Anderson. We prove that odd-sized spin-½ systems exhibiting time-reversal symmetry sustain a net magnetization even away from the thermodynamic limit, thanks to an exact spectral degeneracy. Moreover, the symmetry-broken state exhibits scalable spin squeezing, a key resource for quantum metrology. We then turn to a different paradigm of evolution: quench dynamics. In particular, we show that monitoring the real-time evolution of correlations allows for the experimental measurement of the dispersion relation of fundamental excitations. In the case of two-dimensional long-range ordered systems, such as the dipolar XY model, these excitations are spin waves, leading to sharp features in the evolution of two-point correlation functions. Conversely, in one-dimensional systems, fundamental excitations have a fermionic nature, and their detection requires the measurement of non-local correlation functions. The latter, while inaccessible in condensed matter, are instead well suited to quantum simulators with individually addressable degrees of freedom.
A quantum simulator is a well-controlled quantum system which can be used to simulate another quantum system. Quantum degenerate gases confined by optical standing waves(optical lattices) have been considered to simulate condensed matter systems. We focus on two issues in this problem. The first one is the realization of interesting quantum phases by engineering Hamiltonians with the cold atoms toolbox. Secondly, the systems we studied are often intractable to analytical methods, which makes it a crucial issue to solve them with numerical methods. For the first issue we find several interesting phases can be studied with cold atoms in optical lattices. We show that a p-wave superfluid is stablized through a dissipation blockade mechanism. This mechanism also induces a new insulator formed by p-wave Feshbach molecules. We find that the anisotropic nature of interaction between polar molecules or dipolar atoms can be used to realize two charge density waves with different patterns and a supersolid phase which has not been found conclusively in the condensed matter system. Finally, we propose to realize a long sought spin liquid phase with hard-core bosons subject to a spin-dependent lattice and Raman induced hoppings. For the second issue we choose to numerically study these systems with the so-called tensor network algorithm which is a variational method based on the matrix(tensor) product states product states which are designed to approximate generic wave functions from their entanglement properties. In general the tensor network algorithm has advantages that it is applicable beyond one dimension, and can be used to study physical properties in the thermodynamic limit directly. We apply this method to map out the phase diagrams of the above systems. Furthermore, we show that it is capable of capturing the phase diagram of a frustrated magnetism model, the Heisenberg model on a checkerboard lattice. The great controllability and isolation from the environment of a cold atom system offer a playground to study interesting physics in strongly correlated systems. Several proposed control schemes in this thesis have been demonstrated in experiments. By providing detailed evidence from numerical simulations, this work addresses practical routes to novel quantum phases.
Two models are discussed here to illustrate the quantum many-body phenomena in mixtures of ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices. The first model describes a mixture of two species of bosonic atoms of equal masses in optical lattices and the second describes a mixture of heavy bosonic atoms and light fermionic atoms in optical lattices. For both models, we assume the trap is present and use parameters typical in experiment. For the first model, the discussion is aimed at providing a thorough description of the collective behavior of the binary mixture in various interaction regions, with emphasis on two many-body phenomena, pairing and anti-pairing, as a result of the inter-species interaction. The pairing leads to a new type of superfluid order, called the paired superfluid (PSF) and the anti-pairing leads to another type of superfluid order, called the counter-flow superfluid (CFSF). In addition, we discuss the coexistence of charge density wave order with the three superfluid orders in the strong interaction region. We use both Luttinger liquid theory and the time evolving block decimation (TEBD) method to study this model in one dimension. The discussion is organized in three parts: the phase diagram and the correlation functions; the noise correlation functions; and the transport properties. Two phase diagrams are constructed to map the different orders in the parameter space. The correlation functions, include noise correlations, are carefully examined for the determination of the orders and for possible detection methods. In the end, the transport properties of the PSF and CFSF orders are studied through the dipole oscillation induced by trap displacement. For the second model, examining a mixture of heavy bosons and light fermions, the discussion is oriented toward determining the thermal properties of the mixture for attractive inter-species interactions. This work is motivated by experiments creating artificial molecules through optical and magnetic control of ultra-cold atoms. We use the strong coupling (SC) expansion method to evaluate the density profile, the onsite inter-species correlations, the density fluctuations and the entropy per particle. Analytical expressions are derived for all the quantities above as well as the partition function. To benchmark the accuracy, the SC calculations are compared with inhomogeneous dynamical mean field theory (IDMFT) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. From the calculations, we find that 1) the efficiency of creating pre-formed molecules is significantly increased by confining the mixtures onto optical lattices; 2) the temperature of the mixtures in optical lattices can be reliably estimated through the density gradient and the density fluctuations.