Bosonic molecules in a lattice: unconventional phases from multichannel interactions

Pierfrancesco Buonsante, S. M. Giampaolo, Fabrizio Illuminati +2 more

Barbara Capogrosso-Sansone

Kevin D. Ewart, Michael L. Wall, Kaden R. A. Hazzard

We show that multichannel interactions significantly alter the phase diagram of ultracold bosonic molecules in an optical lattice. Most prominently, an unusual fluid region intervenes between the conventional superfluid and the Mott insulator. In it, number fluctuations remain but phase coherence is suppressed by a significant factor. This factor can be made arbitrarily large, at least in a two-site configuration. We calculate the phase diagram using complementary methods, including Gutzwiller mean-field and density-matrix renormalization group calculations. Although we focus on bosonic molecules without dipolar interactions, we expect multichannel interactions to remain important for dipolar interacting and fermionic molecules.

Renate Landig, Lorenz Hruby, Nishant Dogra +4 more

Barbara Capogrosso-Sansone, Stefan Weßel, Hans Peter Büchler +2 more

We determine the phase diagram of a one-dimensional system of hard-core lattice bosons interacting via repulsive three-body interactions by analytic methods and extensive quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Such three-body interactions can be derived from a microscopic theory for polar molecules trapped in an optical lattice. Depending on the strength of the interactions and the particle density, we find superfluid and solid phases, the latter appearing at an unconventional filling of the lattice and displaying a coexistence of charge-density wave and bond orders.

Barbara Capogrosso-Sansone

In this dissertation I present results for lattice boson systems based on quantum Monte Carlo simulations by the Worm algorithm. Lattice bosons can be realized by ultracold gases in optical lattices and, under certain conditions, they are described by the Bose-Hubbard model. I will discuss the ground state, i.e. the phase diagram and properties of elementary excitations, as well as finite temperature thermodynamic properties of the two- and three-dimensional systems. These results provide bench-marks and guidance for experimentalists. I will also discuss the phase diagram of the one-dimensional hard-core Bose-Hubbard model with three-body interactions. The model is realized by cold polar molecules in optical lattices. The ground state presents a novel solid phase at unconventional filling, characterized by coexisting charge density wave and bond orders. Such phase has not been predicted by the preexisting mean field theory.