Metastable states of a gas of dipolar bosons in a 2D optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex landscape of metastable states in a 2D optical lattice of dipolar bosons, revealing their potential for quantum memory applications due to the multitude of nearly degenerate states caused by long-range interactions.

Contribution

It uncovers the existence of numerous metastable states in dipolar bosons in a 2D lattice, extending understanding beyond the ground state to include near-degenerate configurations.

Findings

Presence of many metastable states competing with the ground state

Metastable states exhibit properties similar to disordered systems

Potential use of these states for quantum memory applications

Abstract

We investigate the physics of dipolar bosons in a two dimensional optical lattice. It is known that due to the long-range character of dipole-dipole interaction, the ground state phase diagram of a gas of dipolar bosons in an optical lattice presents novel quantum phases, like checkerboard and supersolid phases. In this paper, we consider the properties of the system beyond its ground state, finding that it is characterised by a multitude of almost degenerate metastable states, often competing with the ground state. This makes dipolar bosons in a lattice similar to a disordered system and opens possibilities of using them for quantum memories.