Quantum Fluctuation Driven First-order Phase Transitions in Optical Lattices

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum fluctuations can induce first-order phase transitions in a two-species bosonic system within optical lattices, revealing a novel mechanism and distinct universality class.

Contribution

It demonstrates that quantum fluctuations of one bosonic species can convert a second-order transition into a first-order transition in a two-species bosonic system.

Findings

Quantum fluctuations can change the nature of phase transitions from second-order to first-order.

First-order transitions exhibit different universality classes from second-order ones.

The phenomenon can potentially be observed in cold-atom experiments.

Abstract

We study quantum fluctuation driven first-order phase transitions of a two-species bosonic system in a three-dimensional optical lattice. Using effective potential method we find that the superfluid-Mott insulator phase transition of one type of bosons can be changed from second-order to first-order by the quantum fluctuations of the other type of bosons. The study of the scaling behaviors near the quantum critical point shows that the first-order phase transition has a different universality from the second-order one. We also discuss the observation of this exotic phenomenon in the realistic cold-atom experiments.