Staggered-Vortex Superfluid of Ultracold Bosons in an Optical Lattice

Journal Article · Fri Apr 04 04:00:00 EDT 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.100.130402· OSTI ID:21123795

Lim, Lih-King; Smith, C Morais; Hemmerich, Andreas ^[1]

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1. Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University, 3508 TD Utrecht (Netherlands)

We show that the dynamics of cold bosonic atoms in a two-dimensional square optical lattice produced by a bichromatic light-shift potential is described by a Bose-Hubbard model with an additional effective staggered magnetic field. In addition to the known uniform superfluid and Mott insulating phases, the zero-temperature phase diagram exhibits a novel kind of finite-momentum superfluid phase, characterized by a quantized staggered rotational flux. An extension for fermionic atoms leads to an anisotropic Dirac spectrum, which is relevant to graphene and high-T{sub c} superconductors.

• OSTI ID: 21123795
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 100; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANISOTROPY
BOSONS
FERMIONS
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
HUBBARD MODEL
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PHASE DIAGRAMS
POTENTIALS
SUPERFLUIDITY
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS