Supersolid phase of hardcore bosons on triangular lattice

We establish the nature of the supersolid phase observed for hardcore bosons on the triangular lattice near half-integer filling factor, and study the phase diagram of the system at finite temperature. We find that the solid order is always of the (2m,-m',-m') with m changing discontinuously from positive to negative values at half-filling, contrary to predictions of other phases, based on an analogy with the properties of Ising spins in transverse magnetic field. At finite temperature we find two intersecting second-order transition lines, one in the 3-state Potts universality class and the other of the Kosterlitz-Thouless type

Revealing Superfluid--Mott-Insulator Transition in an Optical Lattice

We study (by an exact numerical scheme) the single-particle density matrix of $\sim 10^3$ ultracold atoms in an optical lattice with a parabolic confining potential. Our simulation is directly relevant to the interpretation and further development of the recent pioneering experiment by Greiner et al. In particular, we show that restructuring of the spatial distribution of the superfluid component when a domain of Mott-insulator phase appears in the system, results in a fine structure of the particle momentum distribution. This feature may be used to locate the point of the superfluid--Mott-insulator transition.Comment: 4 pages (12 figures), Latex. (A Latex macro is corrected

Commensurate Two-Component Bosons in Optical Lattice: Groundstate Phase Diagram

Two sorts of bosons in an optical lattice at commensurate filling factors can form five stable superfluid and insulating groundstates with rich and non-trivial phase diagram. The structure of the groundstate diagram is established by mapping $d$-dimensional quantum system onto a $(d+1)$-dimensional classical loop-current model and Monte Carlo simulations of the latter. Surprisingly, the quantum phase diagram features, besides second-order lines, a first-order transition and two multi-critical points. We explain why first-order transitions are generic for models with paring interactions using microscopic and mean-field arguments.Comment: 4 RevTex pages, 3 ps-figures; replaced with revised version accepted by PRL: results of the MC simulations in 4D are briefly discusse

Worm Algorithm for Continuous-space Path Integral Monte Carlo Simulations

We present a new approach to path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations based on the worm algorithm, originally developed for lattice models and extended here to continuous-space many-body systems. The scheme allows for efficient computation of thermodynamic properties, including winding numbers and off-diagonal correlations, for systems of much greater size than that accessible to conventional PIMC. As an illustrative application of the method, we simulate the superfluid transition of Helium-four in two dimensions.Comment: Fig. 2 differs from that of published version (includes data for larger system sizes

Linear and nonlinear susceptibilities of a decoherent two-level system

The linear and nonlinear dynamical susceptibilities of a two level system are calculated as it undergoes a transition to a decoherent state. Analogously to the Glover-Tinkham-Ferrell sum rule of superconductivity, spectral weight in the linear susceptibility is continuously transferred from a finite frequency resonance to nearly zero frequency, corresponding to a broken symmetry in the thermodynamic limit. For this reason, the behavior of the present model (the Mermin model) differs significantly from the spin-boson model. The third order nonlinear susceptibility, corresponding to two-photon absorption, has an unexpected non-monotonic behavior as a function of the environmental coupling, reaching a maximum within the decoherent phase of the model. Both linear and nonlinear susceptibilities may be expressed in a universal form.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

'Hole-digging' in ensembles of tunneling Molecular Magnets

The nuclear spin-mediated quantum relaxation of ensembles of tunneling magnetic molecules causes a 'hole' to appear in the distribution of internal fields in the system. The form of this hole, and its time evolution, are studied using Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that the line-shape of the tunneling hole in a weakly polarised sample must have a Lorentzian lineshape- the short-time half-width $\xi_o$ in all experiments done so far should be $\sim E_0$, the half-width of the nuclear spin multiplet. After a time $\tau_o$, the single molecule tunneling relaxation time, the hole width begins to increase rapidly. In initially polarised samples the disintegration of resonant tunneling surfaces is found to be very fast.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

On the Supersolid State of Matter

We prove that the necessary condition for a solid to be also a superfluid is to have zero-point vacancies, or interstitial atoms, or both, as an integral part of the ground state. As a consequence, superfluidity is not possible in commensurate solids which break continuous translation symmetry. We discuss recent experiment by Kim and Chan [Nature, {\bf 427}, 225 (2004)] in the context of this theorem, question its bulk supersolid interpretation, and offer an alternative explanation in terms of superfluid helium interfaces.Comment: 4 figures, 4 page

Suppression of Quantum Phase Interference in Molecular Magnets Fe₈ with Dipolar-Dipolar Interaction

Renormalized tunnel splitting with a finite distribution in the biaxial spin model for molecular magnets is obtained by taking into account the dipolar interaction of enviromental spins. Oscillation of the resonant tunnel splitting with a transverse magnetic field along the hard axis is smeared by the finite distribution which subsequently affects the quantum steps of hysteresis curve evaluated in terms of the modified Landau-Zener model of spin flipping induced by the sweeping field. We conclude that the dipolar-dipolar interaction drives decoherence of quantum tunnelling in molcular magnets Fe₈, which explains why the quenching points of tunnel spliting between odd and even resonant tunnelling predcited theoretically were not observed experimentally.Comment: 5 pages including 3 figure and 1 table. To appear in Physical Review

Self-Trapping of Polarons in the Rashba-Pekar Model

We performed quantum Monte Carlo study of the exciton-polaron model which features the self-trapping phenomenon when the coupling strength and/or particle momentum is varied. For the first time accurate data for energy, effective mass, the structure of the polaronic cloud, dispersion law, and spectral function are available throughout the crossover region. We observed that self-trapping can not be reduced to hybridization of two states with different lattice deformation, and that at least three states are involved in the crossover from light- to heavy-mass regimes.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Accepted to Phys. Rev. B Rapid Communication

Superfluid--Insulator Transition in Commensurate Disordered Bosonic Systems:Large-Scale Worm-Algorithm Simulations

We report results of large-scale Monte Carlo simulations of superfluid--insulator transitions in commensurate 2D bosonic systems. In the case of off-diagonal disorder (quantum percolation), we find that the transition is to a gapless incompressible insulator, and its dynamical critical exponent is $z=1.65 \pm 0.2$. In the case of diagonal disorder, we prove the conjecture that rare statistical fluctuations are inseparable from critical fluctuations on the largest scales and ultimately result in the crossover to the generic universality class (apparently with $z=2$). However, even at strong disorder, the universal behavior sets in only at very large space-time distances. This explains why previous studies of smaller clusters mimicked a direct superfluid--Mott-insulator transition.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, 7 figure