Showing papers by "Eugene Demler published in 2004"

Probing many-body states of ultracold atoms via noise correlations

Abstract: We propose to utilize density-density correlations in the image of an expanding gas cloud to probe complex many-body states of trapped ultracold atoms. In particular, we show how this technique can be used to detect superfluidity of fermionic gases and to study spin correlations of multicomponent atoms in optical lattices. The feasibility of the method is investigated by analysis of the relevant signal to noise ratio including experimental imperfections.

SO(5) theory of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity

Abstract: Antiferromagnetism and superconductivity are both fundamental and common states of matter. In many strongly correlated systems, including the high Tc cuprates, the heavy fermion compounds and the organic superconductors, they occur next to each other in the phase diagram and influence each other's physical properties. The SO(5) theory unifies these two basic states of matter by a symmetry principle and describes their rich phenomenology through a single low energy effective model. In this paper, we review the framework of the SO(5) theory, and its detailed comparison with numerical and experimental results.

Disordered Bose-Einstein condensates in quasi-one-dimensional magnetic microtraps.

Abstract: We analyze the effects of a random magnetic potential in a microfabricated waveguide for ultracold atoms. We find that the shape and position fluctuations of a current carrying wire induce a strong Gaussian correlated random potential with a length scale set by the atom-wire separation. The theory is used to explain quantitatively the observed fragmentation of the Bose-Einstein condensates in atomic waveguides. Furthermore, we show that nonlinear dynamics can be used to provide important insights into the nature of the strongly fragmented condensates. We argue that a quantum phase transition from the superfluid to the insulating Bose glass phase may be reached and detected under the realistic experimental conditions.

Luttinger liquid of polarons in one-dimensional boson-fermion mixtures.

Abstract: We use the bosonization approach to investigate quantum phases of boson-fermion mixtures (BFM) of atoms confined to one dimension by an anisotropic optical lattice. For a BFM with a single species of fermions we find a charge-density wave phase, a fermion pairing phase, and a phase separation regime. We also obtain the rich phase diagram of a BFM with two species of fermions. We demonstrate that these phase diagrams can be understood in terms of polarons, i.e., atoms ``dressed'' by screening clouds of the other atom species. Techniques to detect the resulting quantum phases are discussed.

Competing orders in thermally fluctuating superconductors in two dimensions

Abstract: We extend recent low-temperature analyses of competing orders in the cuprate superconductors to the pseudogap regime where all orders are fluctuating A universal continuum limit of a classical Ginzburg-Landau functional is used to characterize fluctuations of the superconducting order: this describes the crossover from Gaussian fluctuations at high temperatures to the vortex-binding physics near the onset of global phase coherence These fluctuations induce affiliated corrections in the correlations of other orders, and in particular, in the different realizations of charge order Implications for scanning tunneling spectroscopy and neutron-scattering experiments are noted: there may be a regime of temperatures near the onset of superconductivity where the charge order is enhanced with increasing temperatures

Magnetization plateaus for spin-one bosons in optical lattices: Stern-Gerlach experiments with strongly correlated atoms.

Abstract: We consider insulating states of spin-one bosons in optical lattices in the presence of a weak magnetic field. For the states with more than one atom per lattice site we find a series of quantum phase transitions between states with fixed magnetization and a canted nematic phase. In the presence of a global confining potential, this unusual phase diagram leads to several novel phenomena, including the formation of magnetization plateaus. We discuss how these effects can be observed using spatially resolved spin polarization measurements.

SO(4) theory of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in Bechgaard salts.

Abstract: Motivated by recent experiments with Bechgaard salts, we investigate the competition between antiferromagnetism and triplet superconductivity in quasi-one-dimensional electron systems. We unify the two orders in an SO(4) symmetric framework, demonstrating the existence of such symmetry in one-dimensional Luttinger liquids. SO(4) symmetry strongly constrains the phase diagram, leading to coexistence regions of antiferromagnetic, superconducting, and normal phases, as observed in $(\mathrm{T}\mathrm{M}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{S}\mathrm{F}{)}_{2}{\mathrm{P}\mathrm{F}}_{6}$. We predict a sharp neutron scattering resonance in superconducting samples.

Competition between Triplet Superconductivity and Antiferromagnetism in Quasi One-Dimensional Electron Systems

Abstract: We investigate the competition between antiferromagnetism and triplet superconductivity in quasi-onedimensional electron systems. We show that the two order parameters can be unified using a SO(4) symmetry and demonstrate the existence of such symmetry in one-dimensional Luttinger liquids of interacting electrons. We argue that approximate SO(4) symmetry remains valid even when interchain hopping is strong enough to turn the system into a strongly anisotropic Fermi liquid. For unitary triplet superconductors SO (4) symmetry requires a first order transition between antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases. Analysis of thermal fluctuations shows that the transition between the normal and the superconducting phases is weakly first order, and the normal to antiferromagnet phase boundary has a tricritical point, with the transition being first order in the vicinity of the superconducting phase. We propose that this phase diagram explains coexistence regions between the superconducting and the antiferromagnetic phases, and between the antiferromagnetic and the normal phases observed in sTMTSFd2PF6. For nonunitary triplet superconductors the SO(4) symmetry predicts the existence of a mixed phase of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. We discuss experimental tests of the SO(4) symmetry in neutron scattering and tunneling experiments.

Global phase diagram of ν=2 quantum Hall bilayers in tilted magnetic fields

Abstract: We consider a bilayer quantum Hall system at total filling fraction $\ensuremath{ u}=2$ in tilted magnetic field allowing for charge imbalance as well as tunneling between the two layers. Using an ``unrestricted Hartree Fock,'' previously discussed by Burkov and MacDonald [Phys. Rev. B 66, 115323 (2002)], we examine the zero-temperature global phase diagrams that would be accessed experimentally by changing the in-plane field and the bias voltage between the layers while keeping the tunneling between the two layers fixed. In accordance with previous work, we find symmetric and ferromagnetic phases as well as a first-order transition between two canted phases with spontaneously broken U(1) symmetry. We find that these two canted phases are topologically connected in the phase diagram and, reminiscent of a first-order liquid-gas transition, the first-order transition line between these two phases ends in a quantum critical point. We develop a physical picture of these two phases and describe in detail the physics of the transition.

Decay of supercurrents in condensates in optical lattices

Abstract: In this paper we discuss decay of superfluid currents in boson lattice systems due to quantum tunneling and thermal activation mechanisms. We derive asymptotic expressions for the decay rate near the critical current in two regimes, deep in the superfluid phase and close to the superfluid-Mott insulator transition. The broadening of the transition at the critical current due to these decay mechanisms is more pronounced at lower dimensions. We also find that the crossover temperature below which quantum decay dominates is experimentally accessible in most cases. Finally, we discuss the dynamics of the current decay and point out the difference between low and high currents.

Collective modes of = 2 quantum Hall bilayers in tilted magnetic fields

Abstract: We use the time-dependent Hartree Fock approximation to study the collective-mode spectra of n = 2 quantum Hall bilayers in tilted magnetic fields, allowing for charge imbalance as well as tunneling between the two layers. In a previous companion paper to this work, we studied the zero-temperature global phase diagram of this system, which was found to include symmetric and ferromagnetic phases as well as a first-order transition between two canted phases with spontaneously broken U(1) symmetry. We further found that this first-order transition line ends in a quantum critical point within the canted region. In the current work, we study the excitation spectra of all of these phases and pay particular attention to the behavior of the collective modes near the phase transitions. We find, most interestingly, that the first-order transition between the two canted phases is signaled by a near softening of a magnetoroton minimum. Many of the collective-mode features explored here should be accessible experimentally in light-scattering experiments.