Thermal and quantum fluctuations in chains of ultracold polar molecules

Abstract

Ultracold polar molecules, in highly anisotropic traps and interacting via a repulsive dipolar potential, may form one-dimensional chains at high densities. According to classical theory, at low temperatures there exists a critical value of the density at which a second order phase transition from a linear to a zigzag chain occurs. We study the effect of thermal and quantum fluctuations on these self-organized structures using classical and quantum Monte Carlo methods, by means of which we evaluate the pair correlation function and the static structure factor. Depending on the parameters, these functions exhibit properties typical of a crystalline or of a liquid system. We compare the thermal and the quantum results, identifying analogies and differences. Finally, we discuss experimental parameter regimes where the effects of quantum fluctuations on the linear - zigzag transition can be observed.

Submitted to the Special issue on modern applications of trapped ions, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Quantum zigzag transition in ion chains
• Non-local Order in Elongated Dipolar Gases
• Quantum structural phase transition in chains of interacting atoms
• Superfluidity of flexible chains of polar molecules
• Layers of Cold Dipolar Molecules in the Harmonic Approximation
• Ab-initio characterization of the quantum linear-zigzag transition using DMRG
• Formation of classical crystals of dipolar particles in a helical geometry
• Dipoles on a Two-leg Ladder
• Structural transitions of nearly second order in classical dipolar gases
• One Dimensional 1H, 2H and 3H
• Quantum phases of hard-core dipolar bosons in coupled 1D optical lattices