Phase-induced transport in atomic gases: from superfluid to Mott insulator

Recent experimental realizations of artificial gauge fields for cold atoms are promising for generating steady states carrying a mass current in strongly correlated systems, such as the Bose-Hubbard model. Moreover, a homogeneous condensate confined by hard-wall potentials from laser sheets has been demonstrated, which provides opportunities for probing the intrinsic transport properties of isolated quantum systems. Using the time-dependent Density Matrix Renormalization Group (TDMRG), we analyze the effect of the lattice and interaction strength on the current generated by a quench in the artificial vector potential when the density varies from low values (continuum limit) up to integer filling in the Mott-insulator regime. There is no observable mass current deep in the Mott-insulator state as one may expect. Other observable quantities used to characterize the quasi-steady state in the bulk of the system are the Drude weight and entanglement entropy production rate. The latter in particular provides a striking signature of the superfluid-Mott insulator transition. Furthermore, an interesting property of the superfluid state is the formation of shock and rarefaction waves at the boundaries due to the hard-wall confining potentials. We provide results for the height and the speed of the shock front that propagates from the boundary toward the center of the lattice. Our results should be verifiable with current experimental capabilities.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, final published versio

Superfluid weight in the isolated band limit within the generalized random phase approximation

The superfluid weight of a generic lattice model with attractive Hubbard interaction is computed analytically in the isolated band limit within the generalized random phase approximation. Time-reversal symmetry, spin rotational symmetry, and the uniform pairing condition are assumed. It is found that the relation obtained in [https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.014518] between the superfluid weight in the flat band limit and the so-called minimal quantum metric is valid even at the level of the generalized random phase approximation. For an isolated, but not necessarily flat, band it is found that the correction to the superfluid weight obtained from the generalized random phase approximation $D_{\rm s}^{(1)} = D_{\rm s,c}^{(1)}+D_{\rm s,g}^{(1)}$ is also the sum of a conventional contribution $D_{\rm s,c}^{(1)}$ and a geometric contribution $D_{\rm s,g}^{(1)}$, as in the case of the known mean-field result $D_{\rm s}^{(0)}=D_{\rm s,c}^{(0)}+D_{\rm s,g}^{(0)}$, in which the geometric term $D_{\rm s,g}^{(0)}$ is a weighted average of the quantum metric. The conventional contribution is geometry independent, that is independent of the orbital positions, while it is possible to find a preferred, or natural, set of orbital positions such that $D_{\rm s,g}^{(1)}=0$. Useful analytic expressions are derived for both the natural orbital positions and the minimal quantum metric, including its extension to bands that are not necessarily flat. Finally, using some simple examples, it is argued that the natural orbital positions may lead to a more refined classification of the topological properties of the band structure.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figure

Flat band induced non-Fermi liquid behavior of multicomponent fermions

We investigate multicomponent fermions in a flat band and predict experimental signatures of non-Fermi liquid behavior. We use dynamical mean-field theory to obtain the density, double occupancy and entropy in a Lieb lattice for $\mathcal{N} = 2$ and $\mathcal{N} = 4$ components. We derive a mean-field scaling relation between the results for different values of $\mathcal{N}$, and study its breakdown due to beyond-mean field effects. The predicted signatures occur at temperatures above the N\'eel temperature and persist in presence of a harmonic trapping potential, thus they are observable with current ultracold gas experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures and and a supplementary materia

The XYZ chain with Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interactions: from spin-orbit-coupled lattice bosons to interacting Kitaev chains

Using the density-matrix renormalization-group algorithm (DMRG) and a finite-size scaling analysis, we study the properties of the one-dimensional completely-anisotropic spin-1/2 XYZ model with Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM) interactions. The model shows a rich phase diagram: depending on the value of the coupling constants, the system can display different kinds of ferromagnetic order and Luttinger-liquid behavior. Transitions from ferromagnetic to Luttinger-liquid phases are first order. We thoroughly discuss the transition between different ferromagnetic phases, which, in the absence of DM interactions, belongs to the XX universality class. We provide evidence that the DM exchange term turns out to split this critical line into two separated Ising-like transitions and that in between a disordered phase may appear. Our study sheds light on the general problem of strongly-interacting spin-orbit-coupled bosonic gases trapped in an optical lattice and can be used to characterize the topological properties of superconducting nanowires in the presence of an imposed supercurrent and of interactions.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Signatures of many-body localization of quasiparticles in a flat band superconductor

We construct a class of exact eigenstates of the Hamiltonian obtained by projecting the Hubbard interaction term onto the flat band subspace of a generic lattice model. These exact eigenstates are many body states in which an arbitrary number of localized fermionic particles coexist with a sea of mobile Cooper pairs with zero momentum. By considering the dice lattice as an example, we provide evidence that these exact eigenstates are in fact manifestation of local integrals of motions of the projected Hamiltonian. In particular the spin and particle densities retain memory of the initial state for a very long time, if localized unpaired particles are present at the beginning of the time evolution. This shows that many-body localization of quasiparticles and superfluidity can coexist even in generic two-dimensional lattice models with flat bands, for which it is not known how to construct local conserved quantities. Our results open new perspectives on the old condensed matter problem of the interplay between superconductivity and localization.Comment: 20 Pages, 9 figure

Quantum geometry in superfluidity and superconductivity

We review the theoretical description of the role of quantum geometry in superfluidity and superconductivity of multiband systems, with focus on flat bands where quantum geometry is wholly responsible for supercurrents. This review differs from previous ones in that it is based on the most recent understanding of the theory: the dependence of the self-consistent order parameter on the supercurrent is properly taken into account, and the superfluid weight in a flat band becomes proportional to the minimal quantum metric. We provide a recap of basic quantum geometric quantities and the concept of superfluid density. The geometric contribution of superconductivity is introduced via considering the two-body problem. The superfluid weight of a multiband system is derived within mean-field theory, leading to a topological bound of flat band superconductivity. The physical interpretation of the flat band supercurrent in terms of Wannier function overlaps is discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 1 figure, Lecture notes for the Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course 211 "Quantum Mixtures with Ultra-Cold Atoms" (Varenna, Italy, 2022