Vestigial Gapless Boson Density Wave Emerging between $\nu = 1/2$ Fractional Chern Insulator and Finite-Momentum Supersolid

TL;DR

This paper uncovers a novel intermediate gapless charge-density-wave state between fractional Chern insulator and supersolid phases, revealing complex topological phase transitions and intertwined orders in bosonic lattice systems.

Contribution

It demonstrates the existence of an intermediate gapless CDW state triggered by roton instability, and explores multi-roton mode softening in FCI to explain phase transitions.

Findings

Intermediate gapless CDW state exists between FCI and SS in checkerboard lattice.

Sequence of FCI-Solid I-Solid II transitions observed on honeycomb lattice.

Multi-roton mode softening triggers phase transitions, not single-roton condensation.

Abstract

The roton-triggered charge-density-wave (CDW)is widely studied in fractional quantum Hall (FQH) and fractional Chern insulator (FCI) systems, and there also exist field theoretical and numerical realizations of continuous transition from FCI to superfluid (SF). However, the theory and numerical explorations of the transition between FCI and supersolid (SS) are still lacking. In this work, we study the topological flat-band lattice models with $\nu$ = 1/2 hard-core bosons, where the previous studies have discovered the existence of FCI states and possible direct FCI-SS transitions. While the FCI is robust, we find the direct FCI-SS transition is absent, and there exist more intriguing scenarios. In the case of checkerboard lattice, we find an intermediate gapless CDW state without SF, sandwiched between FCI and SS. This novel state is triggered by the roton instability in FCI and it further continuously brings about the intertwined finite-momentum SF fluctuation when the CDW order is strong enough, eventually transiting into an unconventional finite-momentum SS state. The intermediate gapless CDW state is a vestige from the SS state, since the increasing quantum fluctuation melts only the Larkin-Ovchinnikov-type SF order in SS but its (secondary) product -- the CDW order -- survives. On honeycomb lattice, we find no evidence of SS, but discover an interesting sequence of FCI-Solid I-Solid II transitions, with both solids incompressible. Moreover, in contrast to previous single-roton condensation, this sequence of FCI-Solid I-Solid II transitions is triggered by the softening of multi-roton modes in FCI. Considering the intertwined wave vectors of the CDW orders, Solid I is a vestige of Solid II. Our work provides new horizon not only for the quantum phase transitions in FCI but also for the intertwined orders and gapless states in bosonic systems, which will inspire future studies.