Atom-atom correlations in time-of-flight imaging of ultra-cold bosons in optical lattices

TL;DR

This paper investigates spatial correlations of strongly interacting bosons in optical lattices using a combined theoretical approach, linking decay of correlations to experimental observables like time-of-flight images.

Contribution

It introduces a novel combined Bogoliubov and quantum rotor method to calculate atom-atom correlations in strongly interacting bosons, matching experimental features.

Findings

Correlation decay becomes exponential at lower tunneling rates

Calculated correlations match experimental transition features

Method predicts time-of-flight image characteristics

Abstract

We study the spatial correlations of strongly interacting bosons in a ground state, confined in two-dimensional square and three-dimensional cubic lattice. Using combined Bogoliubov method and the quantum rotor approach, we map the Hamiltonian of strongly interacting bosons onto U(1) phase action in order to calculate the atom-atom correlations decay along the principal axis and a diagonal of the lattice plane direction as a function of distance. Lower tunneling rates lead to quicker decays of the correlations, which character becomes exponential. Finally, correlation functions allow us to calculate quantities that are directly bound to experimental outcomes, namely time-of-flight absorption images and resulting visibility. Our results contain all the characteristic features present in experimental data (transition from Mott insulating blob to superfluid peaks, etc.), which emphasizes the usability of the proposed approach.