PHASE SEPARATION OF ATOMS IN OPTICAL LATTICES

We study dynamics of two species of fermionic atoms in optical lattices in the framework of the asymmetric Hubbard model. A common phenomenon, called phase separation is predicted to occur. We provide arguments on the existence of phase separation, accompanied by a rigorous proof that, even for a single hole case, the density wave state is unstable to the phase separation in the strong interaction limit. Using the state-of-the-art numerical techniques, we obtain the ground state phase diagram and investigate the quantum phase transition from the density wave to phase separation by studying both the corresponding charge order parameter and quantum entanglement. We also discuss experimental realization of phase separation in optical lattices.

Note from Publisher: This article contains the abstract only.