Signatures of the superfluid to Mott insulator transition in cold bosonic atoms in a one dimensional optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper uses the density matrix renormalization group to map the phase diagram of cold bosonic atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice, identifying experimental signatures of the superfluid to Mott insulator transition.

Contribution

It provides the first complete phase diagram for systems with a harmonic trap and links experimental signatures to the phase transition.

Findings

Complete phase diagram including harmonic trap effects

Identification of experimental signatures like momentum distribution and condensate fraction

Comparison between trapped and homogeneous systems

Abstract

We study the Bose-Hubbard model using the finite size density matrix renormalization group method. We obtain for the first time a complete phase diagram for a system in the presence of a harmonic trap and compare it with that of the homogeneous system. To realize the transition from the superfluid to the Mott insulator phase we investigate different experimental signatures of these phases in quantities such as momentum distribution, visibility, condensate fraction and the total number of bosons at a particular density. The relationships between the various experimental signatures and the phase diagram are highlighted.