Quench induced Mott insulator to superfluid quantum phase transition

Abstract

Mott insulator to superfluid quenches have been used by recent experiments to generate exotic superfluid phases. While the final Hamiltonian following the sudden quench is that of a superfluid, it is not a priori clear how close the final state of the system approaches the ground state of the superfluid Hamiltonian. To understand the nature of the final state we calculate the temporal evolution of the momentum distribution following a Mott insulator to superfluid quench. Using the numerical infinite time-evolving block decimation approach and the analytical rotor model approximation we establish that the one and two dimensional Mott insulators following the quench equilibriate to thermal states with spatially short-ranged coherence peaks in the final momentum distribution and therefore are not strict superfluids. However, in three dimensions we find a divergence in the momentum distribution indicating the emergence of true superfluid order.