Ultracold atoms in optical lattices

Bosonic atoms trapped in an optical lattice at very low temperatures, can be modeled by the Bose-Hubbard model. In this paper, we propose a slave-boson approach for dealing with the Bose-Hubbard model, which enables us to analytically describe the physics of this model at nonzero temperatures. With our approach the phase diagram for this model at nonzero temperatures can be quantified.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure

Quantum phases in a resonantly-interacting Bose-Fermi mixture

We consider a resonantly-interacting Bose-Fermi mixture of $^{40}$K and $^{87}$Rb atoms in an optical lattice. We show that by using a red-detuned optical lattice the mixture can be accurately described by a generalized Hubbard model for $^{40}$K and $^{87}$Rb atoms, and $^{40}$K-$^{87}$Rb molecules. The microscopic parameters of this model are fully determined by the details of the optical lattice and the interspecies Feshbach resonance in the absence of the lattice. We predict a quantum phase transition to occur in this system already at low atomic filling fraction, and present the phase diagram as a function of the temperature and the applied magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Coexistence of superfluid and Mott phases of lattice bosons

Recent experiments on strongly-interacting bosons in optical lattices have revealed the co-existence of spatially-separated Mott-insulating and number-fluctuating phases. The description of this inhomogeneous situation is the topic of this Letter. We establish that the number-fluctuating phase forms a superfluid trapped between the Mott-insulating regions and derive the associated collective mode structure. We discuss the interlayer's crossover between two- and three-dimensional behavior as a function of the lattice parameters and estimate the critical temperatures for the transition of the superfluid phase to a normal phase

Theory for Bose-Einstein condensation of light in nano-fabricated semiconductor microcavities

We construct a theory for Bose-Einstein condensation of light in nano-fabricated semiconductor microcavities. We model the semiconductor by one conduction and one valence band which consist of electrons and holes that interact via a Coulomb interaction. Moreover, we incorporate screening effects by using a contact interaction with the scattering length for a Yukawa potential and describe in this manner the crossover from exciton gas to electron-hole plasma as we increase the excitation level of the semiconductor. We then show that the dynamics of the light in the microcavities is damped due to the coupling to the semiconductor. Furthermore, we demonstrate that on the electron-hole plasma side of the crossover, which is relevant for the Bose-Einstein condensation of light, this damping can be described by a single dimensionless damping parameter that depends on the external pumping. Hereafter, we propose to probe the superfluidity of light in these nano-fabricated semiconductor microcavities by making use of the differences in the response in the normal or superfluid phase to a sudden rotation of the trap. In particular, we determine frequencies and damping of the scissors modes that are excited in this manner. Moreover, we show that a distinct signature of the dynamical Casimir effect can be observed in the density-density correlations of the excited light fluid

Mott insulators in an optical lattice with high filling factors

We discuss the superfluid to Mott insulator transition of an atomic Bose gas in an optical lattice with high filling factors. We show that also in this multi-band situation, the long-wavelength physics is described by a single-band Bose-Hubbard model. We determine the many-body renormalization of the tunneling and interaction parameters in the effective Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, and consider the resulting model at nonzero temperatures. We show that in particular for a one or two-dimensional optical lattice, the Mott insulator phase is more difficult to realize than anticipated previously.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, title changed, major restructuring, resubmitted to PR