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First-order phase transitions in optical lattices with tunable three-body onsite interaction
A Safavi-Naini1, J von Stecher, B Capogrosso-Sansone
1ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Adding a three-body interaction to the Bose-Hubbard model eliminates the n=2 Mott lobe. This interaction drives first-order phase transitions between different Mott insulator and superfluid states.
Area of Science:
- Quantum physics
- Condensed matter physics
Background:
- The Bose-Hubbard model describes interacting bosons on a lattice.
- Understanding multi-body interactions is crucial for predicting quantum system behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the impact of a three-body interaction on the two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model.
- Characterize the resulting phase transitions and their order.
Main Methods:
- Mean-field theory analysis.
- Quantum Monte Carlo simulations.
- Tuning three-body interactions via coupling to a universal trimer.
Main Results:
- The n=2 Mott lobe vanishes with a sufficiently attractive three-body interaction.
- First-order phase transitions emerge between n=1 and n=3 Mott insulator lobes.
- First-order transitions also occur between Mott insulator and superfluid phases.
- These transitions remain first-order at finite temperatures (T~J).
Conclusions:
- Three-body interactions significantly alter the phase diagram of the Bose-Hubbard model.
- The system exhibits robust first-order phase transitions driven by these interactions.
- The findings are relevant for ultracold atom experiments and quantum simulation.
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