Pair density wave instability and Cooper pair insulators in gapped fermion systems

By analyzing simple models of fermions in lattice potentials we argue that the zero-temperature pairing instability of any ideal band-insulator occurs at a finite momentum. The resulting supersolid state is known as "pair density wave". The pairing momentum at the onset of instability is generally incommensurate as a result of phase-space restrictions and relative strengths of interband and intraband pairing. However, commensurate pairing occurs in the strong-coupling limit and becomes a Cooper-channel analogue of the Halperin-Rice exciton condensation instability in indirect bandgap semiconductors. The exceptional sensitivity of incommensurate pairing to quantum fluctuations can lead to a strongly-correlated insulating regime and a non-BCS transition, even in the case of weak coupling as shown by an exact renormalization group analysis.Comment: Proceedings article for SCES 2010. To appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

Vortex-Peierls States in Optical Lattices

We show that vortices, induced in cold atom superfluids in optical lattices, may order in a novel vortex-Peierls ground state. In such a state vortices do not form a simple lattice but arrange themselves in clusters, within which the vortices are partially delocalized, tunneling between classically degenerate configurations. We demonstrate that this exotic quantum many-body state is selected by an order-from-disorder mechanism for a special combination of the vortex filling and lattice geometry that has a macroscopic number of classically degenerate ground states.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Published versio

Thick atomic layers of maximum density as bulk terminations of quasicrystals

The clean surfaces of quasicrystals, orthogonal to the directions of the main symmetry axes, have a terrace-like appearance. We extend the Bravais' rule for crystals to quasicrystals, allowing that instead of a single atomic plane a layer of atomic planes may form a bulk termination.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Interactions in Quasicrystals

Although the effects of interactions in solid state systems still remains a widely open subject, some limiting cases such as the three dimensional Fermi liquid or the one-dimensional Luttinger liquid are by now well understood when one is dealing with interacting electrons in {\it periodic} crystalline structures. This problem is much more fascinating when periodicity is lacking as it is the case in {\it quasicrystalline} structures. Here, we discuss the influence of the interactions in quasicrystals and show, on a controlled one-dimensional model, that they lead to anomalous transport properties, intermediate between those of an interacting electron gas in a periodic and in a disordered potential.Comment: Proceedings of the Many Body X conference (Seattle, Sept. 99); 9 pages; uses epsfi

Decoherence Dynamics in Low-Dimensional Cold Atom Interferometers

We report on a study of the dynamics of decoherence of a matter-wave interferometer, consisting of a pair of low-dimensional cold atom condensates at finite temperature. We identify two distinct regimes in the time dependence of the coherence factor of the interferometer: quantum and classical. Explicit analytical results are obtained in both regimes. In particular, in the two-dimensional (2D) case in the classical (long time) regime, we find that the dynamics of decoherence is universal, exhibiting a power-law decay with an exponent, proportional to the ratio of the temperature to the Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature of a single 2D condensate. In the one-dimensional (1D) case in the classical regime we find a universal nonanalytic time dependence of decoherence, which is a consequence of the nonhydrodynamic nature of damping in 1D liquids.Comment: 4 pages, published versio

Phonon Localization in One-Dimensional Quasiperiodic Chains

Quasiperiodic long range order is intermediate between spatial periodicity and disorder, and the excitations in 1D quasiperiodic systems are believed to be transitional between extended and localized. These ideas are tested with a numerical analysis of two incommensurate 1D elastic chains: Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) and Lennard-Jones (LJ). The ground state configurations and the eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions for harmonic excitations are determined. Aubry's "transition by breaking the analyticity" is observed in the ground state of each model, but the behavior of the excitations is qualitatively different. Phonon localization is observed for some modes in the LJ chain on both sides of the transition. The localization phenomenon apparently is decoupled from the distribution of eigenfrequencies since the spectrum changes from continuous to Cantor-set-like when the interaction parameters are varied to cross the analyticity--breaking transition. The eigenfunctions of the FK chain satisfy the "quasi-Bloch" theorem below the transition, but not above it, while only a subset of the eigenfunctions of the LJ chain satisfy the theorem.Comment: This is a revised version to appear in Physical Review B; includes additional and necessary clarifications and comments. 7 pages; requires revtex.sty v3.0, epsf.sty; includes 6 EPS figures. Postscript version also available at http://lifshitz.physics.wisc.edu/www/koltenbah/koltenbah_homepage.htm