Strongly interacting bosons on a three-leg ladder in the presence of a homogeneous flux

TL;DR

This study uses density-matrix renormalization-group methods to explore the rich phase diagram of strongly interacting bosons on a three-leg ladder with a homogeneous flux, revealing various phases and chiral current reversals.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of phase transitions and chiral current behavior in a three-leg bosonic ladder with flux, highlighting the role of interactions in current reversal phenomena.

Findings

Identification of multiple phases including Meissner, vortex liquids, and vortex lattice.

Observation of chiral current reversal in different phases.

Interactions are essential for chiral-current reversal.

Abstract

We perform a density-matrix renormalization-group study of strongly interacting bosons on a three-leg ladder in the presence of a homogeneous flux. Focusing on one-third filling, we explore the phase diagram in dependence of the magnetic flux and the inter-leg tunneling strength. We find several phases including a Meissner phase, vortex liquids, a vortex lattice, as well as a staggered-current phase. Moreover, there are regions where the chiral current reverses its direction, both in the Meissner and in the staggered-current phase. While the reversal in the latter case can be ascribed to spontaneous breaking of translational invariance, in the first it stems from an effective flux increase in the rung direction. Interactions are a necessary ingredient to realize either type of chiral-current reversal.