Density Waves in Layered Systems with Fermionic Polar Molecules

A layered system of two-dimensional planes containing fermionic polar molecules can potentially realize a number of exotic quantum many-body states. Among the predictions, are density-wave instabilities driven by the anisotropic part of the dipole-dipole interaction in a single layer. However, in typical multilayer setups it is reasonable to expect that the onset and properties of a density-wave are modified by adjacent layers. Here we show that this is indeed the case. For multiple layers the critical strength for the density-wave instability decreases with the number of layers. The effect depends on density and is more pronounced in the low density regime. The lowest solution of the instability corresponds to the density waves in the different layers being in-phase, whereas higher solutions have one or several adjancet layers that are out of phase. The parameter regime needed to explore this instability is within reach of current experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Final version in EPJD, EuroQUAM special issue "Cold Quantum Matter - Achievements and Prospects

Bound Chains of Tilted Dipoles in Layered Systems

Ultracold polar molecules in multilayered systems have been experimentally realized very recently. While experiments study these systems almost exclusively through their chemical reactivity, the outlook for creating and manipulating exotic few- and many-body physics in dipolar systems is fascinating. Here we concentrate on few-body states in a multilayered setup. We exploit the geometry of the interlayer potential to calculate the two- and three-body chains with one molecule in each layer. The focus is on dipoles that are aligned at some angle with respect to the layer planes by means of an external eletric field. The binding energy and the spatial structure of the bound states are studied in several different ways using analytical approaches. The results are compared to stochastic variational calculations and very good agreement is found. We conclude that approximations based on harmonic oscillator potentials are accurate even for tilted dipoles when the geometry of the potential landscape is taken into account.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Few-body Systems special issue on Critical Stability, revised versio

Thermodynamics of Dipolar Chain Systems

The thermodynamics of a quantum system of layers containing perpendicularly oriented dipolar molecules is studied within an oscillator approximation for both bosonic and fermionic species. The system is assumed to be built from chains with one molecule in each layer. We consider the effects of the intralayer repulsion and quantum statistical requirements in systems with more than one chain. Specifically, we consider the case of two chains and solve the problem analytically within the harmonic Hamiltonian approach which is accurate for large dipole moments. The case of three chains is calculated numerically. Our findings indicate that thermodynamic observables, such as the heat capacity, can be used to probe the signatures of the intralayer interaction between chains. This should be relevant for near future experiments on polar molecules with strong dipole moments.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, final versio