Coupling Bose-Einstein condensates to optical cavities has enabled the study of many-body states with long-range interactions. However, equivalent experiments with ultracold Fermi gases have remained largely unexplored. Here, we report an experimental realization of a superradiant quantum phase transition of a degenerate Fermi gas in a transversely pumped optical cavity. The self-ordering checkerboard density pattern of Fermi gases and superradiant transitions of the cavity field spontaneously emerge by increasing the pumping intensity above a threshold value. The effects of Fermi statistics are manifested by an inverse square root scaling of the threshold with atom number and the slow dynamics of low–atomic momentum states. Our work provides an ideal platform for studying nonequilibirium dynamics of many-body states for long-range interacting Fermi gases.
Recent experiments with ultracold Rydberg-excited atoms have shown that long-range interactions can give rise to spatially ordered structures. Observation of crystalline phases in a system with Rydberg atoms loaded into an optical lattice seems also within reach. Here we investigate a bosonic model on a triangular lattice suitable for description of such experiments. Numerical simulations based on bosonic dynamical mean-field theory reveal a rich phase diagram with different supersolid phases. Comparison with the results obtained for a square lattice geometry shows qualitatively similar results in a wide range of parameters; however, on a triangular lattice we do not observe the checkerboard supersolid. Moreover, unlike on a square lattice, we did not find a phase transition from uniform superfluid to supersolid induced by increase of the hopping amplitude on a triangular lattice. Based on our results, we propose an intuitive interpretation of the nature of different supersolid phases. We also propose parameters for the experimental realization.
Intersite interactions play a crucial role in polar gases in optical lattices even in the absence of hopping. We show that due to these long-range interactions a destabilized stack of quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates develops a correlated modulational instability in the nonoverlapping sites. Interestingly, this density pattern may evolve spontaneously into soliton filaments or into a checkerboard soliton crystal, offering a unique possibility to observe such two-dimensional arrangements in ultracold gases. These self-assembled structures may be observed under realistic conditions within current experimental feasibilities.