Superfluid-insulator transition in a periodically driven optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper shows how a superfluid-insulator transition can be controlled in a Bose-Hubbard system using periodic driving, revealing new ways to manipulate quantum phases in optical lattices.

Contribution

It introduces a method to induce the transition via Floquet engineering, extending understanding of driven quantum many-body systems.

Findings

Transition controlled by oscillating force in Bose-Hubbard model

Effective tunneling renormalization enables phase change

Experimental feasibility with Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We demonstrate that the transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator in the Bose-Hubbard model can be induced by an oscillating force through an effective renormalization of the tunneling matrix element. The mechanism involves adiabatic following of Floquet states, and can be tested experimentally with Bose-Einstein condensates in periodically driven optical lattices. Its extension from small to very large systems yields nontrivial information on the condensate dynamics.