Magnetic and Transport Properties of a Coupled Hubbard Bilayer with Electron and Hole Doping

The single band, two dimensional Hubbard Hamiltonian has been extensively studied as a model for high temperature superconductivity. While Quantum Monte Carlo simulations within the dynamic cluster approximation are now providing considerable evidence for a d-wave superconducting state at low temperature, such a transition remains well out of reach of finite lattice simulations because of the "sign problem". We show here that a bilayer Hubbard model, in which one layer is electron doped and one layer is hole doped, can be studied to lower temperatures and exhibits an interesting signal of d-wave pairing. The results of our simulations bear resemblance to a recent report on the magnetic and superconducting properties of Ba$_2$Ca$_3$Cu$_4$O$_8$F$_2$ which contains both electron and hole doped CuO$_2$ planes. We also explore the phase diagram of bilayer models in which each sheet is at half-filling

Quantum Monte Carlo Study of an Interaction-Driven Band Insulator to Metal Transition

We study the transitions from band insulator to metal to Mott insulator in the ionic Hubbard model on a two dimensional square lattice using determinant Quantum Monte Carlo. Evaluation of the temperature dependence of the conductivity demonstrates that the metallic region extends for a finite range of interaction values. The Mott phase at strong coupling is accompanied by antiferromagnetic (AF) order. Inclusion of these intersite correlations changes the phase diagram qualitatively compared to dynamical mean field theory.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Metallic phase in the two-dimensional ionic Hubbard model

We investigate the phases of the ionic Hubbard model in a two-dimensional square lattice using determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC). At half-filling, when the interaction strength or the staggered potential dominate we find Mott and band insulators, respectively. When these two energies are of the same order we find a metallic region. Charge and magnetic structure factors demonstrate the presence of antiferromagnetism only in the Mott region, although the externally imposed density modulation is present everywhere in the phase diagram. Away from half-filling, other insulating phases are found. Kinetic energy correlations do not give clear signals for the existence of a bond-ordered phase

Attractive Hubbard Model on a Honeycomb Lattice

We study the attractive fermionic Hubbard model on a honeycomb lattice using determinantal quantum Monte Carlo simulations. By increasing the interaction strength U (relative to the hopping parameter t) at half-filling and zero temperature, the system undergoes a quantum phase transition at 5.0 < U_c/t < 5.1 from a semi-metal to a phase displaying simultaneously superfluid behavior and density order. Doping away from half-filling, and increasing the interaction strength at finite but low temperature T, the system always appears to be a superfluid exhibiting a crossover between a BCS and a molecular regime. These different regimes are analyzed by studying the spectral function. The formation of pairs and the emergence of phase coherence throughout the sample are studied as U is increased and T is lowered

Superconductivity in striped and multi-Fermi-surface Hubbard models: From the cuprates to the pnictides

Single- and multi-band Hubbard models have been found to describe many of the complex phenomena that are observed in the cuprate and iron-based high-temperature superconductors. Simulations of these models therefore provide an ideal framework to study and understand the superconducting properties of these systems and the mechanisms responsible for them. Here we review recent dynamic cluster quantum Monte Carlo simulations of these models, which provide an unbiased view of the leading correlations in the system. In particular, we discuss what these simulations tell us about superconductivity in the homogeneous 2D single-orbital Hubbard model, and how charge stripes affect this behavior. We then describe recent simulations of a bilayer Hubbard model, which provides a simple model to study the type and nature of pairing in systems with multiple Fermi surfaces such as the iron-based superconductors.Comment: Published as part of Superstripes 2011 (Rome) conference proceeding

Competition of crystal field splitting and Hund's rule coupling in two-orbital magnetic metal-insulator transitions

Competition of crystal field splitting and Hund's rule coupling in magnetic metal-insulator transitions of half-filled two-orbital Hubbard model is investigated by multi-orbital slave-boson mean field theory. We show that with the increase of Coulomb correlation, the system firstly transits from a paramagnetic (PM) metal to a {\it N\'{e}el} antiferromagnetic (AFM) Mott insulator, or a nonmagnetic orbital insulator, depending on the competition of crystal field splitting and the Hund's rule coupling. The different AFM Mott insulator, PM metal and orbital insulating phase are none, partially and fully orbital polarized, respectively. For a small $J_{H}$ and a finite crystal field, the orbital insulator is robust. Although the system is nonmagnetic, the phase boundary of the orbital insulator transition obviously shifts to the small $U$ regime after the magnetic correlations is taken into account. These results demonstrate that large crystal field splitting favors the formation of the orbital insulating phase, while large Hund's rule coupling tends to destroy it, driving the low-spin to high-spin transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Hatano-Nelson model with a periodic potential

We study a generalisation of the Hatano-Nelson Hamiltonian in which a periodic modulation of the site energies is present in addition to the usual random distribution. The system can then become localized by disorder or develop a band gap, and the eigenspectrum shows a wide variety of topologies. We determine the phase diagram, and perform a finite size scaling analysis of the localization transition.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Excitation Spectrum of One-dimensional Extended Ionic Hubbard Model

We use Perturbative Continuous Unitary Transformations (PCUT) to study the one dimensional Extended Ionic Hubbard Model (EIHM) at half-filling in the band insulator region. The extended ionic Hubbard model, in addition to the usual ionic Hubbard model, includes an inter-site nearest-neighbor (n.n.) repulsion, $V$. We consider the ionic potential as unperturbed part of the Hamiltonian, while the hopping and interaction (quartic) terms are treated as perturbation. We calculate total energy and ionicity in the ground state. Above the ground state, (i) we calculate the single particle excitation spectrum by adding an electron or a hole to the system. (ii) the coherence-length and spectrum of electron-hole excitation are obtained. Our calculations reveal that for V=0, there are two triplet bound state modes and three singlet modes, two anti-bound states and one bound state, while for finite values of $V$ there are four excitonic bound states corresponding to two singlet and two triplet modes. The major role of on-site Coulomb repulsion $U$ is to split singlet and triplet collective excitation branches, while $V$ tends to pull the singlet branches below the continuum to make them bound states.Comment: 10 eps figure

Single and two-particle energy gaps across the disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition

The competition between superconductivity and localization raises profound questions in condensed matter physics. In spite of decades of research, the mechanism of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) and the nature of the insulator are not understood. We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations that treat, on an equal footing, inhomogeneous amplitude variations and phase fluctuations, a major advance over previous theories. We gain new microscopic insights and make testable predictions for local spectroscopic probes. The energy gap in the density of states survives across the transition, but coherence peaks exist only in the superconductor. A characteristic pseudogap persists above the critical disorder and critical temperature, in contrast to conventional theories. Surprisingly, the insulator has a two-particle gap scale that vanishes at the SIT, despite a robust single-particle gap.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures (plus supplement with 4 pages, 5 figures