Phase Frustration Induced Intrinsic Bose Glass in the Kitaev-Bose-Hubbard Model

TL;DR

This paper uncovers a disorder-free Bose glass phase in the Kitaev-Bose-Hubbard model caused by phase frustration, revealing a new mechanism for glassy states in clean quantum systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel intrinsic Bose glass phase driven by phase frustration, linking disorder-free localization to deterministic phase effects in the Kitaev-Bose-Hubbard model.

Findings

Identification of a Bubble Phase with Bose glass characteristics

Demonstration of finite compressibility without superfluidity

Development of a unified framework linking frustration to localization

Abstract

We report an intrinsic "Bubble Phase" in the two-dimensional Kitaev-Bose-Hubbard model, driven purely by phase frustration between complex hopping and anisotropic pairing. By combining Inhomogeneous Gutzwiller Mean-Field Theory with a Bogoliubov-de Gennes stability analysis augmented by a novel Energy Penalty Method, we demonstrate that this phase spontaneously fragments into coherent islands, exhibiting the hallmark Bose glass signature of finite compressibility without global superfluidity. Notably, we propose a unified framework linking disorder-driven localization to deterministic phase frustration, identifying the Bubble Phase as a pristine, disorder-free archetype of the Bose glass. Our results provide a theoretical blueprint for realizing glassy dynamics in clean quantum simulators.