Criticality, the area law, and the computational power of projected entangled pair states

The projected entangled pair state (PEPS) representation of quantum states on two-dimensional lattices induces an entanglement based hierarchy in state space. We show that the lowest levels of this hierarchy exhibit a very rich structure including states with critical and topological properties. We prove, in particular, that coherent versions of thermal states of any local 2D classical spin model correspond to such PEPS, which are in turn ground states of local 2D quantum Hamiltonians. This correspondence maps thermal onto quantum fluctuations, and it allows us to analytically construct critical quantum models exhibiting a strict area law scaling of the entanglement entropy in the face of power law decaying correlations. Moreover, it enables us to show that there exist PEPS which can serve as computational resources for the solution of NP-hard problems.     

Excitonic metal–insulator phase transition of the Mott type in compressed calcium

It has been experimentally found that, under the static compression of a calcium crystal at room temperature, it undergoes a series of structural phase transitions: face-centered cubic lattice → body-centered cubic lattice → simple cubic lattice. It has been decided to investigate precisely the simple cubic lattice (because it is an alternative lattice) with the aim of elucidating the possibility of the existence of other (nonstructural) phase transitions in it by using for this purpose the Hubbard model for electrons with half-filled ns-bands and preliminarily transforming the initial electronic system into an electron–hole system by means of the known Shiba operators (applicable only to alternative lattices). This transformation leads to the fact that, in the new system of fermions, instead of the former repulsion, there is an attraction between electrons and holes. Elementary excitations of this new system are bound boson pairs—excitons. This system of fermions has been quantitatively analyzed by jointly using the equation-of-motion method and the direct algebraic method. The numerical integration of the analytically exact transcendental equations derived from the first principles for alternative (one-, two-, and three-dimensional) lattices has demonstrated that, in systems of two-species (electrons + hole) fermions, temperature-induced metal–insulator phase transitions of the Mott type are actually possible. Moreover, all these crystals are in fact excitonic insulators. This conclusion is in complete agreement with the analytically exact calculations of the ground state of a one-dimensional crystal (with half-filled bands), which were performed by Lieb and Wu with the aim to find out the Mott insulator–metal transition of another type.     

Inhomogeneous atomic Bose-Fermi mixtures in cubic lattices

We determine the ground state properties of inhomogeneous mixtures of bosons and fermions in cubic lattices and parabolic confining potentials. For finite hopping we determine the domain boundaries between Mott-insulator plateaux and hopping-dominated regions for lattices of arbitrary dimension within mean-field and perturbation theory. The results are compared with a new numerical method that is based on a Gutzwiller variational approach for the bosons and an exact treatment for the fermions. The findings can be applied as a guideline for future experiments with trapped atomic Bose-Fermi mixtures in optical lattices.     

Ground state of a dipolar crystal

We provide some of the strongest evidence to date that the ground state structure of an infinite collection of point dipoles with hardcore sphere interactions is body-centered tetragonal. The structure with the next highest binding energy is not face-centered cubic; a particular honeycomb structure has lower energy.     

Contrast in four-beam-interference lithography

Specific configurations of four linearly polarized, monochromatic plane waves have previously been shown to be capable of producing interference patterns exhibiting the symmetries inherent in all 14 Bravais lattices. We present (1) the range of possible absolute contrasts, (2) the conditions for unity absolute contrast, and (3) the types of interference patterns possible for configurations of four beams interference that satisfy the uniform contrast condition. Results are presented for three Bravais lattice structures: Base- and face-centered cubic and simple cubic.     

Three-sublattice ordering of the SU(3) Heisenberg model of three-flavor fermions on the square and cubic lattices

Combining a semiclassical analysis with exact diagonalizations, we show that the ground state of the SU(3) Heisenberg model on the square lattice develops three-sublattice long-range order. This surprising pattern for a bipartite lattice with only nearest-neighbor interactions is shown to be the consequence of a subtle quantum order-by-disorder mechanism. By contrast, thermal fluctuations favor two-sublattice configurations via entropic selection. These results are shown to extend to the cubic lattice, and experimental implications for the Mott-insulating states of three-flavor fermionic atoms in optical lattices are discussed.     

基于全息成像技术构建任意的二维光晶格阵列

利用Gerchberg-Saxton算法生成任意的二维光晶格阵列的全息图,并且将全息图加载到液晶型空间光调制器上,然后将850 nm的激光照射到空间光调制器的液晶屏上,利用透镜的傅里叶变换特性,成功地显示或构建任意形状的二维光晶格阵列。将该系统应用到87Rb的冷原子实验中,成功俘获冷原子,这为接下来的单原子多量子位的量子模拟实验奠定了基础。     

金属目标原子晶格结构对其量子雷达散射截面的影响

量子雷达散射截面是描述光量子态照射下目标可见性的重要参数. 本文对量子雷达散射截面的推导进行了扩展, 使其可以应用于非平面凸目标的QRCS计算. 针对面心立方、体心立方以及密排六方三种金属原子晶格所构成的目标的量子雷达散射截面进行了计算, 结果表明不同的原子排列方式下, 目标QRCS主瓣基本不变, 而量子旁瓣在原子排列稀疏的目标中更为明显.     

Concentration dependence of the spin diffusion constant for a diluted Heisenberg magnet

The concentration dependence of the diffusion constant for a dilute isotropic Heisenberg magnet in the high temperature limit is examined in the cases of simple cubic, body-centered cubic and face-centered cubic lattices with nearest-neighbour exchange.     

Exact results for strongly correlated fermions in 2 + 1 dimensions

We derive exact results for a model of strongly interacting spinless fermions hopping on a two-dimensional lattice. By exploiting supersymmetry, we find the number and type of ground states exactly. Exploring various lattices and limits, we show how the ground states can be frustrated, quantum critical, or combine frustration with a Wigner crystal. We show that on generic lattices the model is in an exotic "superfrustrated" state characterized by an extensive ground-state entropy.     

Coulomb energy of cubic lattices

The Coulomb energies of simple cubic, face-centered cubic and body-centered cubic point lattices with uniform neutralizing background are given for crystals with up to 16 atoms per unit cell.     

Experiments with a 3D double optical lattice

We present a setup where we trap two different cesium hyperfine ground states in two different near-resonant optical lattices with identical topographies. We demonstrate that we can change the relative spatial phase between the lattices and we measure the equilibrium temperature as a function of the relative spatial phase. This provides a topographical chart of the optical potential. We also determine the rate at which atoms are transferred between the lattices and show that the setup is a promising candidate for implementing coherent quantum state manipulation.     

Zero-temperature ordering in the two-dimensional quantum XY model

We have calculated the probability distribution for the staggered magnetization at T=0 for the 2D antiferromagnetic quantum XY model on finite lattices. For the ground state, the distribution shows evidence of isotropic magnetization ordering on the xy-plane. Based on data on seven lattices up to 26 sites, the extrapolated value of the staggered magnetization is 0.448±0.003 in the thermodynamic limit.     

Quantum emulsion: a glassy phase of bosonic mixtures in optical lattices

We numerically investigate mixtures of two interacting bosonic species with unequal parameters in one-dimensional optical lattices. In large parameter regions full phase segregation is seen to minimize the energy of the system, but the true ground state is masked by an exponentially large number of metastable states characterized by microscopic phase separation. The ensemble of these quantum emulsion states, reminiscent of emulsions of immiscible fluids, has macroscopic properties analogous to those of a Bose glass, namely, a finite compressibility in absence of superfluidity. Their metastability is probed by extensive quantum Monte Carlo simulations generating rich correlated stochastic dynamics. The tuning of the repulsion of one of the two species via a Feshbach resonance drives the system through a quantum phase transition to the superfluid state.     

Photonic dispersions of semiconductor-quantum-dot-array-based photonic crystals in primitive and face-centered cubic lattices

We study the energy dispersions of photonic crystals based on the semiconductor-quantum-dot arrays. It has been shown that for the most commonly used semiconductor materials, and as compared with the primitive cubic lattice, the photonic crystal in a face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice exhibits a very promising energy dispersion relationship with an overall photonic bandgap. The bandgap is most prominent along the Λ(Γ–L) line inq space. The results explain the difficulties in fabricating photonic crystals in fcc lattices. They explain also the experimental works of Vlasov et al. [Physical Review B55, R13357–13360 (1997)], where it has been demonstrated that for CdS nanocrystals embedded in fcc porous silica matrices the photonic bandgaps are observed for any direction of the radiation incidence, being most pronounced for the [111] direction.     

Orbital ordering and frustration of p-band Mott insulators

We investigate the general structure of orbital exchange physics in Mott-insulating states of p-orbital systems in optical lattices. Orbital orders occur in both the triangular and kagome lattices. In contrast, orbital exchange in the honeycomb lattice is frustrated as described by a novel quantum 120 degrees model. Its classical ground states are mapped into configurations of the fully packed loop model with an extra U(1) rotation degree of freedom. Quantum orbital fluctuations select a six-site plaquette ground state ordering pattern in the semiclassical limit from the "order from disorder" mechanism. This effect arises from the appearance of a zero energy flat band of orbital excitations.     

A quantification of the interaction and spatial ordering in nano-arrays

This paper reports on the use of a local order measure to quantify the spatial ordering of a quantum dot array (QDA). By means of electron ground state energy analysis in a quantum dot pair, it is demonstrated that the length scale required for such a measure to characterize the opto-electronic properties of a QDA is of the order of a few QD radii. Therefore, as local order is the primary factor that affects the opto-electronic properties of an array of quantum dots of homogeneous size, this order was quantified through using the standard deviation of the nearest neighbor distances of the quantum dot ensemble. The local order measure is successfully applied to quantify spatial order in a range of experimentally synthesized and numerically generated arrays of nanoparticles. This measure is not limited to QDAs and has wide ranging applications in characterizing order in dense arrays of nanostructures.     

A driven three-dimensional electric lattice for polar molecules

Three-dimensional (3D) driven optical lattices have attained great attention for their wide applications in the quest to engineer new and exotic quantum phases. Here we propose a 3D driven electric lattice (3D-DEL) for cold polar molecules as a natural extension. Our 3D electric lattice is composed of a series of thin metal plates in which two-dimensional square hole arrays are distributed. When suitable modulated voltages are applied to these metal plates, a 3D potential well array for polar molecules can be generated and can move smoothly back and forth in the lattice. Thus, it can drive cold polar molecules confined in the 3D electric lattice. Theoretical analyses and trajectory calculations using two types of molecules, ND₃ and PbF, are performed to justify the possibility of our scheme. The 3D-DEL offers a platform for investigating cold molecules in periodic driven potentials, such as quantum computing science, quantum information processing, and some other possible applications amenable to the driven optical lattices.     

Charge qubits and limitations of electrostatic quantum gates

We investigate quantum dot arrays and their application to quantum computation. The arrays analyzed contain a total of a few operating electrons with constant tunneling between the dots. We construct quantum two-level systems near the ground state with a large energy separation to the remainder of the states and with the electrostatic interaction modeled within the capacitance matrix formalism. A set of representative examples is investigated numerically.