V. G. Rousseau

Magnetic and superfluid transitions in the one-dimensional spin-1 boson Hubbard model.

Recent progress in experiments on trapped ultracold atoms has made it possible to study the interplay between magnetism and superfluid-insulator transitions in the boson Hubbard model. We report on quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the spin-1 boson Hubbard model in the ground state. For antiferromagnetic interactions favoring singlets, we present exact numerical evidence that the superfluid-insulator transition is first (second) order for even (odd) Mott lobes. Inside even lobes, we search for nematic-to-singlet first order transitions. In the ferromagnetic case where transitions are all continuous, we map the phase diagram and show the superfluid to be ferromagnetic. We compare the quantum Monte Carlo phase diagram with a third order perturbation calculation.

Interacting spin-1 bosons in a two-dimensional optical lattice

We study, using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations, the ground state properties of spin-1 bosons trapped in a square optical lattice. The phase diagram is characterized by the mobility of the particles (Mott insulating or superfluid phase) and by their magnetic properties. For ferromagnetic on-site interactions, the whole phase diagram is ferromagnetic and the Mott insulators-superfluid phase transitions are second order. For antiferromagnetic on-site interactions, spin nematic order is found in the odd Mott lobes and in the superfluid phase. Furthermore, the superfluid-insulator phase transition is first or second order depending on whether the density in the Mott is even or odd. Inside the even Mott lobes we observe a singlet-to-nematic transition for certain values of the interactions. This transition appears to be first order.

Phase diagram of bosons in a two-dimensional optical lattice with infinite-range cavity-mediated interactions

A high-finesse optical cavity allows the establishment of long-range interactions between bosons in an optical lattice when most cold-atom experiments are restricted to short-range interactions. Supersolid phases have recently been experimentally observed in such systems. Using both exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations and the Gutzwiller approximation, we study the ground-state phase diagrams of a two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with infinite-range interactions which describes such experiments. In addition to superfluid and insulating Mott phases, the infinite-range checkerboard interactions introduce charge-density waves and supersolid phases. We study here the system at various particle densities, elucidate the nature of the phases and quantum phase transitions, and discuss the stability of the phases with respect to phase separation. In particular we confirm the existence and stability of a supersolid phase detected experimentally.

Quantum Monte Carlo study of the visibility of one-dimensional Bose-Fermi mixtures

It has been widely suggested that the strong correlations responsible for magnetism, superconductivity, and the metalinsulator transition in the solid state can be studied via ultracold optically trapped atoms. Indeed, this idea has been successfully realized in the context of both bosonic and fermionic atoms. In the former case, the transition between condensed superfluid and insulating phases was demonstrated through the evolution of the interference pattern after the release and expansion of the gas 1. Initial studies focused on the height 1 and width 2 of the central interference peak, with later work looking at the visibility V, which measures the difference between the maxima and minima of the momentum distribution function Sk3‐5. Interesting “kinks” are observed in V which are associated with the re

Ground-state phase diagram of spin-(1/2) bosons in a two-dimensional optical lattice

We study a two-species bosonic Hubbard model on a two-dimensional square lattice by means of quantum Monte Carlo simulations. In addition to the usual contact repulsive interactions between the particles, the Hamiltonian has an interconversion term which allows the transformation of two particles from one species to the other. The phases are characterized by their solid or superfluid properties and by their polarization, i.e., the difference in the populations. When interspecies interactions are smaller than the intraspecies ones, the system is unpolarized, whereas in the opposite case the system is unpolarized in even Mott insulator lobes and polarized in odd Mott lobes and also in the superfluid phase. We show that in the latter case the transition between the Mott insulator of total density 2 and the superfluid can be of either second or first order depending on the relative values of the interactions, whereas the transitions are continuous in all other cases.

Feshbach-einstein condensates.

We investigate the phase diagram of a two-species Bose-Hubbard model describing atoms and molecules on a lattice, interacting via a Feshbach resonance. We identify a region where the system exhibits an exotic super-Mott phase and regions with phases characterized by atomic and/or molecular condensates. Our approach is based on a recently developed exact quantum Monte Carlo algorithm: the stochastic Green function algorithm with tunable directionality. We confirm some of the results predicted by mean-field studies, but we also find disagreement with these studies. In particular, we find a phase with an atomic but no molecular condensate, which is missing in all mean-field phase diagrams.

Superfluid and Mott-insulator phases of one-dimensional Bose-Fermi mixtures

We study the ground state phases of Bose-Fermi mixtures in one-dimensional optical lattices with quantum Monte Carlo simulations using the canonical worm algorithm. Depending on the filling of bosons and fermions, and the on-site intra- and interspecies interaction, different kinds of incompressible and superfluid phases appear. On the compressible side, correlations between bosons and fermions can lead to a distinctive behavior of the bosonic superfluid density and the fermionic stiffness, as well as of the equal-time Green functions, which allow one to identify regions where the two species exhibit anticorrelated flow. We present here complete phase diagrams for these systems at different fillings and as a function of the interaction parameters.

Canonical trajectories and critical coupling of the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian in a harmonic trap

Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations and the local density approximation (LDA) are used to map the constant particle number (canonical) trajectories of the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian confined in a harmonic trap onto the (\mu /U/t U) phase diagram of the uniform system. Generically, these curves do not intercept the tips of the Mott insulator lobes of the uniform system. This observation necessitates a clarification of the appropriate comparison between critical couplings obtained in experiments on trapped systems with those obtained in QMC simulations. The density profiles and visibility are also obtained along these trajectories. Density profiles from QMC in the confined case are compared with LDA results.

Competing phases, phase separation, and coexistence in the extended one-dimensional bosonic Hubbard model

We study the phase diagram of the one-dimensional bosonic Hubbard model with contact (

Quantum and thermal phase transitions in a bosonic atom-molecule mixture in a two-dimensional optical lattice

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