A major challenge in realizing antiferromagnetic and superfluid phases in optical lattices is the ability to cool fermions. We determine the equation of state for the 3D repulsive Fermi-Hubbard model as a function of the chemical potential, temperature, and repulsion using unbiased determinantal quantum Monte Carlo methods, and we then use the local density approximation to model a harmonic trap. We show that increasing repulsion leads to cooling but only in a trap, due to the redistribution of entropy from the center to the metallic wings. Thus, even when the average entropy per particle is larger than that required for antiferromagnetism in the homogeneous system, the trap enables the formation of an antiferromagnetic Mott phase.
The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model is a (0 + 1)-dimensional model describing Majorana fermions or complex fermions with random interactions. This model has various interesting properties such as approximate local criticality (power law correlation in time), zero temperature entropy, and quantum chaos. In this article, we propose a higher dimensional generalization of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model, which is a lattice model with N Majorana fermions at each site and random interactions between them. Our model can be defined on arbitrary lattices in arbitrary spatial dimensions. In the large N limit, the higher dimensional model preserves many properties of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model such as local criticality in two-point functions, zero temperature entropy and chaos measured by the out-of-time-ordered correlation functions. In addition, we obtain new properties unique to higher dimensions such as diffusive energy transport and a “butterfly velocity” describing the propagation of chaos in space. We mainly present results for a (1 + 1)-dimensional example, and discuss the general case near the end.
The ground-state properties of the half-filled Hubbard model are investigated in the framework of lattice density functional theory. The single-particle density matrix ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{ij\ensuremath{\sigma}}$ is regarded as the central variable of the many-body problem, where
i and
j refer to the lattice sites and $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ to the spin. The interaction-energy functional $W[{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{ij\ensuremath{\sigma}}]$ is calculated exactly for representative finite periodic systems by performing exact Lanczos diagonalizations. The relationship between $W[{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{ij\ensuremath{\sigma}}]$ and the entropy $S[{\ensuremath{\eta}}_{\mathbit{k}\ensuremath{\sigma}}]$ of independent fermions with natural-orbital occupations ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{\mathbit{k}\ensuremath{\sigma}}$ is analyzed. A simple approximation to the interaction energy of the half-filled Hubbard model is proposed, which takes the form $W=W(S[{\ensuremath{\eta}}_{\mathbit{k}\ensuremath{\sigma}}])$. Using this functional we derive the ground-state energy, kinetic energy, average number of double occupations, charge distribution, magnetic susceptibility, and field-induced spin polarization in one-, two-, and three-dimensional periodic lattices. The limit of infinite dimensions is also explored. The accuracy of the method is assessed by comparison with available exact numerical or analytical results. Goals, limitations, and possible extensions of the domain of applicability of the functional are discussed.