One-dimensional SU(N) clusters of fermions in optical lattices

Abstract

Abstract The behaviour of fermion clusters with SU(N) symmetry loaded in one-dimensional optical lattices and described by continuous Hamiltonians was studied using a diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) technique. The state diagrams of SU(6) and SU(2) arrangements with the same number of particles were calculated and found virtually identical. The only difference was the absence of a band insulator in the SU(N) case in the range of optical lattice depths considered (V 0 = 0–12 E R ; E R , recoil energy of the lattice) in the non-interacting limit for N > 2. The appearance of that state was signalled by a noticeable change in the shape of the momentum distributions in going from a metal to a band insulator.