Spin and quadruple correlations in the insulating nematic phase of spin-1 bosons on optical lattices

Abstract

We consider the effective model of $H=-J_{1}\sum_{<i,j>}\mathbf{S}_{i}\cdot \mathbf{S}_{j}-J_{2}\sum_{<i,j>}(\mathbf{S}_{i}\cdot \mathbf{S}_{j}) ^{2}$, describing the Mott insulating phase with odd number of spin-1 bosons in optical lattices ($J_{2}>J_{1}>0$). In terms of an SU(3) boson representation, a valence bond mean field theory is developed. In 1D, a \textit{first-order} quantum phase transition from a spin singlet to a spin nematic phase with \textit{gapful} excitations is identified at $ J_{1}/J_{2}=0.19833$, while on a 2D square lattice a spin nematic ordered phase with gapless excitations prevails. In both 1D and 2D cases, we predict that the spin structure factor displays dominant antiferromagnetic fluctuations, while the quadrupole structure factor exhibits strong ferroquadrupolar correlations.