Realizing the strongly correlated $d$-Mott state in a fermionic cold atom optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to create and detect a novel d-wave Mott-insulator state in ultracold fermionic atoms within a 2D optical lattice, expanding the possibilities for studying strongly correlated quantum phases.

Contribution

It demonstrates how to engineer and identify the d-Mott state in cold atom systems, providing a new platform for exploring strongly correlated phenomena.

Findings

Identification of parameter regimes for stable d-Mott state

Predictions for experimental signatures in time-of-flight measurements

Extension of strongly correlated state realization to cold atom lattices

Abstract

We show that a new state of matter, the d-wave Mott-insulator state (d-Mott state) (introduced recently by [H. Yao, W. F. Tsai, and S. A. Kivelson, Phys. Rev. B 76, 161104 (2007)]), which is characterized by a non-zero expectation value of a local plaquette operator embedded in an insulating state, can be engineered using ultra-cold atomic fermions in two-dimensional double-well optical lattices. We characterize and analyze the parameter regime where the $d$-Mott state is stable. We predict the testable signatures of the state in the time-of-flight measurements.