Evaluating Second-Order Phase Transitions with Diagrammatic Monte Carlo: Néel Transition in the Doped Three-Dimensional Hubbard Model.

Diagrammatic Monte Carlo-the technique for the numerically exact summation of all Feynman diagrams to high orders-offers a unique unbiased probe of continuous phase transitions. Being formulated directly in the thermodynamic limit, the diagrammatic series is bound to diverge and is not resummable at the transition due to the nonanalyticity of physical observables. This enables the detection of the transition with controlled error bars from an analysis of the series coefficients alone, avoiding the challenge of evaluating physical observables near the transition. We demonstrate this technique by the example of the Néel transition in the 3D Hubbard model. At half filling and higher temperatures, the method matches the accuracy of state-of-the-art finite-size techniques, but surpasses it at low temperatures and allows us to map the phase diagram in the doped regime, where finite-size techniques struggle from the fermion sign problem. At low temperatures and sufficient doping, the transition to an incommensurate spin density wave state is observed.

Homotopic Action: A Pathway to Convergent Diagrammatic Theories.

The major obstacle preventing Feynman diagrammatic expansions from accurately solving many-fermion systems in strongly correlated regimes is the series slow convergence or divergence problem. Several techniques have been proposed to address this issue: series resummation by conformal mapping, changing the nature of the starting point of the expansion by shifted action tools, and applying the homotopy analysis method to the Dyson-Schwinger equation. They emerge as dissimilar mathematical procedures aimed at different aspects of the problem. The proposed homotopic action offers a universal and systematic framework for unifying the existing-and generating new-methods and ideas to formulate a physical system in terms of a convergent diagrammatic series. It eliminates the need for resummation, allows one to introduce effective interactions, enables a controlled ultraviolet regularization of continuous-space theories, and reduces the intrinsic polynomial complexity of the diagrammatic Monte Carlo method. We illustrate this approach by an application to the Hubbard model.

Entropy in the Non-Fermi-Liquid Regime of the Doped 2D Hubbard Model.

We study thermodynamic properties of the doped Hubbard model on the square lattice in the regime of strong charge and spin fluctuations at low temperatures near the metal-to-insulator crossover and obtain results with controlled accuracy using the diagrammatic Monte Carlo method directly in the thermodynamic limit. The behavior of the entropy reveals a non-Fermi-liquid state at sufficiently high interactions near half filling: A maximum in the entropy at nonzero doping develops as the coupling strength is increased, along with an inflection point, evidencing a metal to non-Fermi-liquid crossover. The specific heat exhibits additional distinctive features of a non-Fermi-liquid state. Measurements of the entropy can, therefore, be used as a probe of the state of the system in quantum simulation experiments with ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

Spin and Charge Correlations across the Metal-to-Insulator Crossover in the Half-Filled 2D Hubbard Model.

The 2D Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor hopping on the square lattice and an average of one electron per site is known to undergo an extended crossover from metallic to insulating behavior driven by proliferating antiferromagnetic correlations. We study signatures of this crossover in spin and charge correlation functions and present results obtained with controlled accuracy using the diagrammatic Monte Carlo approach in the range of parameters amenable to experimental verification with ultracold atoms in optical lattices. The qualitative changes in charge and spin correlations associated with the crossover are observed at well-separated temperature scales, which encase the intermediary regime of non-Fermi-liquid character, where local magnetic moments are formed and nonlocal fluctuations in both channels are essential.

Extended Crossover from a Fermi Liquid to a Quasiantiferromagnet in the Half-Filled 2D Hubbard Model.

The ground state of the Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor hopping on the square lattice at half filling is known to be that of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) band insulator for any on-site repulsion. At finite temperature, the absence of long-range order makes the question of how the interaction-driven insulator is realized nontrivial. We address this problem with controlled accuracy in the thermodynamic limit using self-energy diagrammatic determinant Monte Carlo and dynamical cluster approximation methods and show that development of long-range AFM correlations drives an extended crossover from Fermi liquid to insulating behavior in the parameter regime that precludes a metal-to-insulator transition. The intermediate crossover state is best described as a non-Fermi liquid with a partially gapped Fermi surface.

Nonexistence of the Luttinger-Ward functional and misleading convergence of skeleton diagrammatic series for hubbard-like models.

The Luttinger-Ward functional Φ[G], which expresses the thermodynamic grand potential in terms of the interacting single-particle Green's function G, is found to be ill defined for fermionic models with the Hubbard on-site interaction. In particular, we show that the self-energy Σ[G]∝δΦ[G]/δG is not a single-valued functional of G: in addition to the physical solution for Σ[G], there exists at least one qualitatively distinct unphysical branch. This result is demonstrated for several models: the Hubbard atom, the Anderson impurity model, and the full two-dimensional Hubbard model. Despite this pathology, the skeleton Feynman diagrammatic series for Σ in terms of G is found to converge at least for moderately low temperatures. However, at strong interactions, its convergence is to the unphysical branch. This reveals a new scenario of breaking down of diagrammatic expansions. In contrast, the bare series in terms of the noninteracting Green's function G0 converges to the correct physical branch of Σ in all cases currently accessible by diagrammatic Monte Carlo calculations. In addition to their conceptual importance, these observations have important implications for techniques based on the explicit summation of the diagrammatic series.

p-Wave superfluidity by spin-nematic Fermi surface deformation.

We study attractively interacting fermions on a square lattice with dispersion relations exhibiting strong spin-dependent anisotropy. The resulting Fermi surface mismatch suppresses the s-wave BCS-type instability, clearing the way for unconventional types of order. Unbiased sampling of the Feynman diagrammatic series using diagrammatic Monte Carlo methods reveals a rich phase diagram in the regime of intermediate coupling strength. Instead of a proposed Cooper-pair Bose metal phase [A. E. Feiguin and M. P. A. Fisher, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 025303 (2009)], we find an incommensurate density wave at strong anisotropy and two different p-wave superfluid states with unconventional symmetry at intermediate anisotropy.

Thermodynamics of the 3D Hubbard model on approaching the Néel transition.

We study the thermodynamic properties of the 3D Hubbard model for temperatures down to the Néel temperature by using cluster dynamical mean-field theory. In particular, we calculate the energy, entropy, density, double occupancy, and nearest-neighbor spin correlations as a function of chemical potential, temperature, and repulsion strength. To make contact with cold-gas experiments, we also compute properties of the system subject to an external trap in the local density approximation. We find that an entropy per particle S/N ≈ 0.65(6) at U/t = 8 is sufficient to achieve a Néel state in the center of the trap, substantially higher than the entropy required in a homogeneous system. Precursors to antiferromagnetism can clearly be observed in nearest-neighbor spin correlators.

Critical temperature curve in BEC-BCS crossover.

The strongly correlated regime of the crossover from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer pairing to Bose-Einstein condensation can be realized by diluting a system of two-component fermions with a short-range attractive interaction. We investigate this system via a novel continuous-space-time diagrammatic determinant Monte Carlo method and determine the universal curve Tc/epsilonF for the transition temperature between the normal and the superfluid states as a function of the scattering length with the maximum on the Bose-Einstein condensation side. At unitarity, we confirm that Tc/epsilonF=0.152(7).

Scanning superfluid-turbulence cascade by its low-temperature cutoff.

On the basis of a recently proposed scenario of the transformation of the Kolmogorov cascade into the Kelvin-wave cascade, we develop a theory of low-temperature cutoff. The theory predicts a specific behavior of the quantized vortex line density, L, controlled by the frictional coefficient, alpha(T)<<1, responsible for the cutoff. The curve ln L(lnalpha) is found to directly reflect the structure of the cascade, revealing four qualitatively distinct wave number regions. Excellent agreement with a recent experiment by Walmsley et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 265302 (2007)] -- in which L(T) has been measured down to T ~ 0.08 K -- implies that the scenario of low-temperature superfluid turbulence is now experimentally validated and allows to quantify the Kelvin-wave cascade spectrum.

Scale-separation scheme for simulating superfluid turbulence: Kelvin-wave cascade.

A Kolmogorov-type cascade of Kelvin waves-the distortion waves on vortex lines-plays a key part in the relaxation of superfluid turbulence at low temperatures. We propose an efficient numeric scheme for simulating the Kelvin-wave cascade on a single vortex line. This idea is likely to be generalizable for a full-scale simulation of different regimes of superfluid turbulence. With the new scheme, we are able to unambiguously resolve the cascade spectrum exponent, and thus to settle the controversy between recent simulations of Vinen, Tsubota, and Mitani [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 135301 (2003)]] and recently developed analytic theory [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 035301 (2004)]].

Kelvin-wave cascade and decay of superfluid turbulence.

Kelvin waves (kelvons), the distortion waves on vortex lines, play a key part in the relaxation of superfluid turbulence at low temperatures. We present a weak-turbulence theory of kelvons. We show that nontrivial kinetics arises only beyond the local-induction approximation and is governed by three-kelvon collisions; a corresponding kinetic equation is derived. We prove the existence of Kolmogorov cascade and find its spectrum. The qualitative analysis is corroborated by numeric study of the kinetic equation. The application of the results to the theory of superfluid turbulence is discussed.