Magnetic field induced band insulator to Mott insulator transformations in 4-component alkali fermions at half-filling

Abstract

Under the influence of an external magnetic field and spin-changing collisions, the band insulator (BI) state of one-dimensional (1D) s-wave repulsively interacting 4-component fermions at half-filling transforms into Mott insulator (MI) states with spontaneously broken translational symmetry: a dimerized state for shallow lattices and a N{\'e}el state for deep lattices via an intermediate topological state. Since a BI has vanishing entropy per particle, these MI phases could be particularly inviting for experimental realization under the similar conditions as those for $^{40}$K atoms [1], provided the magnetic field is changed adiabatically.