Quantum Phase Transitions for Bosons in One Dimension

We study the ground state phase diagram and the critical properties of interacting Bosons in one dimension by means of a quantum Monte Carlo technique. The direct experimental realization is a chain of Josephson junctions. For finite-range interactions we find a novel intermediate phase which shows neither solid order nor superfluidity. We determine the location of this phase and study the critical behaviour of the various transitions. For on-site interaction only, we map out the phase diagram as a function of the hopping strength and the chemical potential.Comment: 11 pages, revtex, 2 eps-figure

Correlations of conductance peaks and transmission phases in deformed quantum dots

We investigate the Coulomb blockade resonances and the phase of the transmission amplitude of a deformed ballistic quantum dot weakly coupled to leads. We show that preferred single--particle levels exist which stay close to the Fermi energy for a wide range of values of the gate voltage. These states give rise to sequences of Coulomb blockade resonances with correlated peak heights and transmission phases. The correlation of the peak heights becomes stronger with increasing temperature. The phase of the transmission amplitude shows lapses by $\pi$ between the resonances. Implications for recent experiments on ballistic quantum dots are discussed.Comment: 29 pages, 9 eps-figure

Correlations in the cotunneling regime of a quantum dot

Off-resonance conductance through weakly coupled quantum dots ("valley conductance") is governed by cotunneling processes in which a large number of dot states participate. Virtually the same states participate in the transport at consecutive valleys, which leads to significant valley-valley conductance correlations. These correlations are calculated within the constant interaction model. Comparison with experiment shows that these correlations are less robust in reality. Among the possible reasons for this is the breakdown of the constant interaction model, accompanied by "scrambling" of the dot as the particle number is varied.Comment: 10 pages, 4 eps-figures; reference adde

Quantum-Phase Transitions of Interacting Bosons and the Supersolid Phase

We investigate the properties of strongly interacting bosons in two dimensions at zero temperature using mean-field theory, a variational Ansatz for the ground state wave function, and Monte Carlo methods. With on-site and short-range interactions a rich phase diagram is obtained. Apart from the homogeneous superfluid and Mott-insulating phases, inhomogeneous charge-density wave phases appear, that are stabilized by the finite-range interaction. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrates the existence of a supersolid phase, in which both long-range order (related to the charge-density wave) and off-diagonal long-range order coexist. We also obtain the critical exponents for the various phase transitions.Comment: RevTex, 20 pages, 10 PostScript figures include