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arXiv:cond-mat/0404395 · Physical Review A

Local-density approximation for confined bosons in an optical lattice

Sara Bergkvist, Patrik Henelius, Anders Rosengren

Published Nov 4, 2004• 39 citations
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Abstract

We investigate local and global properties of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with an external confining potential, describing an atomic condensate in an optical lattice. Using quantum Monte Carlo techniques we demonstrate that a local-density approximation, which relates the unconfined and the confined model, yields quantitatively correct results in most of the interesting parameter range. We also examine claims of universal behavior in the confined system, and demonstrate the origin of a previously calculated fine structure in the experimentally accessible momentum distribution.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.70.053601

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We investigate local and global properties of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with an external confining potential, describing an atomic condensate in an optical lattice. Using quantum Monte Carlo techniques we demonstrate that a local-density approximation, which relates the unconfined and the confined model, yields quantitatively correct results in most of the interesting parameter range. We also examine claims of universal behavior in the confined system, and demonstrate the origin of a previously calculated fine structure in the experimentally accessible momentum distribution.
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Using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations we study the ground-state properties of the one-dimensional fermionic Hubbard model in traps with an underlying lattice. Since due to the confining potential the density is space dependent, Mott-insulating domains always coexist with metallic regions, such that global quantities are not appropriate to describe the system. We define a local compressibility that characterizes the Mott-insulating regions and analyze other local quantities. It is shown that the momentum distribution function, a quantity that is commonly considered in experiments, fails in giving a clear signal of the Mott-insulating transition. Furthermore, we analyze a mean-field approach to these systems and compare it with the numerically exact QMC results. Finally, we determine a generic form for the phase diagram that allows us to predict the phases to be observed in the experiments.
We use quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations to study the combined effects of harmonic confinement and temperature for bosons in a two-dimensional(2D) optical lattice. The scale-invariant, finite temperature state diagram is presented for the Bose-Hubbard model in terms of experimental parameters -- the particle number, confining potential and interaction strength. To distinguish the nature of the spatially separated superfluid, Mott insulator, and normal Bose liquid phases, we examine the local density, compressibility, superfluid density, and Green's function. In the annular superfluid rings, as the width of the ring decreases, the long-range superfluid correlations start to deviate from an equivalent homogeneous 2D system. At zero temperature, the correlation decay is intermediate between one-dimension and two-dimensions, while at a finite temperature, the decay is similar to that in one-dimension at a much lower temperature. The calculations reveal shortcomings of the local density approximation in describing superfluid properties of trapped bosons. We also present the finite-temperature phase diagram for the homogeneous two dimensional Bose-Hubbard model. We compare our state diagram with the results of a recent experiment at NIST on a harmonically trapped 2D lattice [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 110401 (2010)], and identify a finite-temperature effect in the experiment.
Using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations we study the ground state properties of the one‐dimensional fermionic Hubbard model in traps with an underlying lattice. We show that this model displays quantum critical behavior at the boundaries of the local Mott‐insulating regions. A local compressibility defined to characterize the Mott‐insulating phase has a non‐trivial critical exponent. Both the local compressibility and the variance of the local density show universality with respect to the confining potential. We study the momentum distribution function and we find that it is not appropriate to characterize the transitions in the system.
Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the one-dimensional fermionic Hubbard model in a harmonic potential displays quantum critical behavior at the boundaries of a Mott-insulating region. A local compressibility defined to characterize the Mott-insulating phase has a nontrivial critical exponent. Both the local compressibility and the variance of the local density show universality with respect to the confining potential. We determine a generic phase diagram, which allows the prediction of the phases to be observed in experiments with ultracold fermionic atoms trapped on optical lattices.
In the absence of a confining potential, the boson-Hubbard model exhibits a superfluid to Mott insulator quantum phase transition at commensurate fillings and strong coupling. We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to study the ground state of the one-dimensional bosonic Hubbard model in a trap. Some, but not all, aspects of the Mott insulating phase persist. Mott behavior occurs for a continuous range of incommensurate fillings, very different from the unconfined case, and the establishment of the Mott phase does not proceed via a traditional quantum phase transition. These results have important implications for interpreting experiments on ultracold atoms on optical lattices.