Mechanisms of Mott transitions and d x 2 Ày 2 -wave superconductivity (SC) are studied in the half-filledband Hubbard model on square lattices with a diagonal hopping term (t 0 ), using an optimization (or correlated) variational Monte Carlo method.In the trial wave functions, a doublon-holon binding effect is introduced in addition to the onsite Gutzwiller projection.We mainly treat a d-wave singlet state and a projected Fermi sea.In both wave functions, first-order Mott transitions without direct relevance to magnetic orders occur at U ¼ U c , which is approximately the bandwidth, for arbitrary t 0 =t.These transitions originate in the binding or unbinding of a doublon to a holon.d-wave SC appears in a narrow range immediately below U c .The robust d-wave superconducting correlation is necessarily accompanied by enhanced antiferromagnetic correlation; the strength of SC decreases, as t 0 =t increases.
Mechanisms of Mott transitions and d x 2 Ày 2 -wave superconductivity (SC) are studied in the half-filledband Hubbard model on square lattices with a diagonal hopping term (t 0 ), using an optimization (or correlated) variational Monte Carlo method.In the trial wave functions, a doublon-holon binding effect is introduced in addition to the onsite Gutzwiller projection.We mainly treat a d-wave singlet state and a projected Fermi sea.In both wave functions, first-order Mott transitions without direct relevance to magnetic orders occur at U ¼ U c , which is approximately the bandwidth, for arbitrary t 0 =t.These transitions originate in the binding or unbinding of a doublon to a holon.d-wave SC appears in a narrow range immediately below U c .The robust d-wave superconducting correlation is necessarily accompanied by enhanced antiferromagnetic correlation; the strength of SC decreases, as t 0 =t increases.
With the high-Tc cuprates in mind, properties of correlated d-wave superconducting (SC) states are studied for a Hubbard model on square lattices with a diagonal transfer (t-t’-U model), using a variational Monte Carlo method. We employ a simple wave function, which includes crucial parameters, in particular, a doublon-holon (D-H) binding factor important for correlated SC and normal states as doped Mott insulators. We first check that the range of dominant superconductivity is limited to a strongly correlated regime (U>W, U: onsite correlation strength, W: band width), and coincides with the effective range of the D-H binding factors. In this range of U/t and δ (doping rate), holons (in hole-doped cases) are classified into two types: doped holons and ones created as D-H pairs. Only the former holons participate in current, whereas the latter contribute to singlet-pair formation. Next, we show that the SC properties undergo a crossover at U=Uco∼W. For U<Uco, the behavior is appropriately interpreted with the conventional BCS mechanism, whereas for U>Uco (the regime of cuprates), a new idea is needed to understand the peculiar SC behavior.
To understand the mechanism of Mott transitions in case of no magnetic influence, superfluid-insulator (Mott) transitions in the S=0 Bose Hubbard model at unit filling are studied on the square and triangular lattices, using a variational Monte Carlo method. In trial many-body wave functions, we introduce various types of attractive correlation factors between a doubly-occupied site (doublon, D) and an empty site (holon, H), which play a central role for Mott transitions, in addition to the onsite repulsive (Gutzwiller) factor. By optimizing distance-dependent parameters, we study various properties of this type of wave functions. With a hint from the Mott transition arising in a completely D-H bound state, we propose an improved picture of Mott transitions, by introducing two characteristic length scales, the D-H binding length ξdh and the minimum D-D exclusion length ξdd. Generally, a Mott transition occurs when ξdh becomes comparable to ξdd. In the conductive (superfluid) state, domains of D-H pairs overlap with each other (ξdh>ξdd); thereby D and H can propagate independently as density carriers by successively exchanging the partners. In contrast, intersite repulsive Jastrow (D-D and H-H) factors have little importance for the Mott transition.
With high-Tc cuprates in mind, properties of correlated dx2-y2-wave superconducting (SC) and antiferromagnetic (AF) states are studied for the Hubbard (t-t'-U) model on square lattices, using a variational Monte Carlo method. We employ simple trial wave functions including only crucial parameters, such as a doublon-holon binding factor indispensable to describe correlated SC and normal states as doped Mott insulators. U/t, t'/t and δ(doping rate) dependence of relevant quantities are systematically calculated. As U/t increases, a sharp crossover of SC properties occurs at U_co/t \sim 10 from a conventional BCS type to a kinetic-energy-driven type for any t'/t. As δdecreases, U_co/t is smoothly connected to the Mott transition point at half filling. For U/t\lsim 5, steady superconductivity corresponding to the cuprates is not found, whereas the d-wave SC correlation function Pd^\infty rapidly increases for U/t\gsim 6 and becomes maximum at U=U_co. Comparing the δdependence of Pd^\infty with experimentally observed dome-shaped Tc and condensation energy, we find that the effective value of U for the cuprates should be larger than the band width, for which the t-J model is valid. Analyzing the kinetic energy, we reveal that for U>U_co only doped holes (electrons) become charge carriers, which will make a small Fermi surface (hole pocket), but for UU_co is determined by two factors, i.e., the AF spin correlation, which creates singlet pairs (pseudogap), and the charge mobility dominated by Mott physics.
The mechanism of Mott transition in the Hubbard model on the square lattice is studied without explicit introduction of magnetic and superconducting correlations, using a variational Monte Carlo method. In the trial wave functions, we consider various types of binding factors between a doubly-occupied site (doublon, D) and an empty site (holon, H), like a long-range type as well as a conventional nearest-neighbor type, and add independent long-range D-D (H-H) factors. It is found that a wide choice of D-H binding factor leads to Mott transitions at critical values near the band width. We renew the D-H binding picture of Mott transitions by introducing two characteristic length scales, the D-H binding length l_{DH} and the minimum D-D distance l_{DD}, which we appropriately estimate. A Mott transition takes place at l_{DH}=l_{DD}. In the metallic regime (l_{DH}>l_{DD}), the domains of D-H pairs overlap with one another, thereby doublons and holons can move independently by exchanging the partners one after another. In contrast, the D-D factors give only a minor contribution to the Mott transition.
Abstract In connection with recent tera-Hertz photoexcitation experiments in which strongly correlated materials are changed from Mott-insulating to metallic, we statically study the properties of excited states beyond the Mott gap in the <?CDATA dx2−y2?> d x 2 − y 2 -wave superconducting (d-SC) branch at half filling, by applying a variational Monte Carlo method to a two-dimensional Hubbard model. It is found that the first-order Mott transition previously found at U = U c for the lowest-energy state vanishes for the excited states. As a result, an insulator-to-d-SC transition occurs as the strength of excitation (corresponding to light intensity) is increased for U/t (> U c /t) fixed. As a mechanism, this conduction is led by newly created free carriers (unbound doublons and holons) in the excited states.
In connection with recent experiments on excitation in which Mott insulators change to conductors, we study the properties of excited states beyond the Mott gap as quasi-stationary states for a two-dimensional Hubbard (t-t'-U) model at half filling. A variational Monte Carlo method is used with trial wave functions for paramagnetic or normal (PM), superconducting with dx2-y2-wave (d-SC), isotropic s-wave, and extended s-wave symmetries, and antiferromagnetic (AF) states. The excited states are generated by imposing a minimum number of doubly occupied sites (doublons) D_L on the lowest-energy states. For U>W (W: band width), d_L=D_L/Ns (Ns: number of sites) corresponds to the excitation intensity. It is found that the AF state is the most stable among the states we treated for d_L<0.14 and insulating. The PM and d-SC states become conductive over a threshold d_Lc, and the conduction is caused by unbound doublons and holons (empty sites). The PM state arises for d_L>0.14, but the d-SC state is always hidden by the AF state. The s-wave-type superconducting states are not stabilized for any parameter set.