Mesoscopic supersolid of dipoles in a trap

TL;DR

This study uses diffusion Monte Carlo simulations to explore a mesoscopic system of trapped dipolar bosons, revealing conditions under which a supersolid phase with simultaneous spatial order and Bose condensation can exist.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates the possibility of a mesoscopic supersolid phase in a trapped dipolar bosonic system through detailed quantum Monte Carlo analysis.

Findings

Formation of a mesoscopic crystal at strong interactions

Multi-stage melting with decreasing interaction strength

Existence of a supersolid phase with simultaneous order and Bose condensation

Abstract

A mesoscopic system of indirect dipolar bosons trapped by a harmonic potential is considered. The system has a number of physical realizations including dipole excitons, atoms with large dipolar moment, polar molecules, Rydberg atoms in inhomogenious electric field. We carry out a diffusion Monte Carlo simulation to define the quantum properties of a two-dimensional system of trapped dipoles at zero temperature. In dimensionless units the system is described by two control parameters, namely the number of particles and the strength of the interparticle interaction. We have shown that when the interparticle interaction is strong enough a mesoscopic crystal is formed. As the strength of interactions is decreased a multi-stage melting takes place. Off-diagonal order in the system is tested using natural orbitals analysis. We have found that the system might be Bose-condensed even in the case of strong interparticle interactions. There is a set of parameters for which a spatially ordered structure is formed while simultaneously the fraction of Bose condensed particles is non zero. This might be considered as a realization of a mesoscopic supersolid.