Controlling two-species Mott-insulator phses in an optical lattice to form an array of dipolar molecules

We consider the transfer of a two-species Bose-Einstein condensate into an optical lattice with a density such that that a Mott-insulator state with one atom per species per lattice site is obtained in the deep lattice regime. Depending on collision parameters the result could be either a `mixed' or a `separated' Mott-insulator phase. Such a `mixed' two-species insulator could then be photo-associated into an array of dipolar molecules suitable for quantum computation or the formation of a dipolar molecular condensate. For the case of a $^{87}$Rb-$^{41}$K two-species BEC, however, the large inter-species scattering length makes obtaining the desired `mixed' Mott insulator phase difficult. To overcome this difficulty we investigate the effect of varying the lattice frequency on the mean-field interaction and find a favorable parameter regime under which a lattice of dipolar molecules could be generated

Magnetism in a lattice of spinor Bose condensates

We study the ground state magnetic properties of ferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensates confined in a deep optical lattices. In the Mott insulator regime, the ``mini-condensates'' at each lattice site behave as mesoscopic spin magnets that can interact with neighboring sites through both the static magnetic dipolar interaction and the light-induced dipolar interaction. We show that such an array of spin magnets can undergo a ferromagnetic or anti-ferromagnetic phase transition under the magnetic dipolar interaction depending on the dimension of the confining optical lattice. The ground-state spin configurations and related magnetic properties are investigated in detail

Modulational instability in nonlocal nonlinear Kerr media

We study modulational instability (MI) of plane waves in nonlocal nonlinear Kerr media. For a focusing nonlinearity we show that, although the nonlocality tends to suppress MI, it can never remove it completely, irrespectively of the particular profile of the nonlocal response function. For a defocusing nonlinearity the stability properties depend sensitively on the response function profile: for a smooth profile (e.g., a Gaussian) plane waves are always stable, but MI may occur for a rectangular response. We also find that the reduced model for a weak nonlocality predicts MI in defocusing media for arbitrary response profiles, as long as the intensity exceeds a certain critical value. However, it appears that this regime of MI is beyond the validity of the reduced model, if it is to represent the weakly nonlocal limit of a general nonlocal nonlinearity, as in optics and the theory of Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Theory of orbital state and spin interactions in ferromagnetic titanates

A spin-orbital superexchange Hamiltonian in a Mott insulator with $t_{2g}$ orbital degeneracy is investigated. More specifically, we focus on a spin ferromagnetic state of the model and study a collective behavior of orbital angular momentum. Orbital order in the model occurs in a nontrivial way -- it is stabilized exclusively by quantum effects through the order-from-disorder mechanism. Several energetically equivalent orbital orderings are identified. Some of them are specified by a quadrupole ordering and have no unquenched angular momentum at low energy. Other states correspond to a noncollinear ordering of the orbital angular momentum and show the magnetic Bragg peaks at specific positions. Order parameters are unusually small because of strong quantum fluctuations. Orbital contribution to the resonant x-ray scattering is discussed. The dynamical magnetic structure factor in different ordered states is calculated. Predictions made should help to observe elementary excitations of orbitals and also to identify the type of the orbital order in ferromagnetic titanates. Including further a relativistic spin-orbital coupling, we derive an effective low-energy spin Hamiltonian and calculate a spin-wave spectrum, which is in good agreement with recent experimental observations in YTiO$_3$.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figure

Magnetic Ordering, Orbital Ordering and Resonant X-ray Scattering in Perovskite Titanates

The effective Hamiltonian for perovskite titanates is derived by taking into account the three-fold degeneracy of $t_{2g}$ orbitals and the strong electron-electron interactions. The magnetic and orbital ordered phases are studied in the mean-field approximation applied to the effective Hamiltonian. A large degeneracy of the orbital states in the ferromagnetic phase is found in contrast to the case of the doubly degenerate $e_g$ orbitals. Lifting of this orbital degeneracy due to lattice distortions and spin-orbit coupling is examined. A general form for the scattering cross section of the resonant x-ray scattering is derived and is applied to the recent experimental results in YTiO$_3$. The spin wave dispersion relation in the orbital ordered YTiO$_3$ is also studied.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure