Supersolid versus Phase Separation in Atomic Bose-Fermi Mixture

Abstract

We show that a two-dimensional atomic mixture of Bosons and Fermions cooled into their quantum degenerate states and subject to an optical lattice develops a supersolid phase characterized by the simultaneous presence of a non-trivial crystalline order and phase order. This transition is in competition with a phase separated ground state. We determine the phase diagram of the system and propose an experiment allowing for the observation of the supersolid phase.