Dipole condensates in tilted Bose-Hubbard chains

Abstract

Here we study the quantum phase diagram of a Bose-Hubbard chain whose dynamics conserves both a boson number and boson dipole moment, a situation which can arise in strongly tilted optical lattices. The conservation of the dipole moment has a dramatic effect on the phase diagram, which we analyze by combining a field theory analysis with DMRG simulations. In the thermodynamic limit, the phase diagram is dominated by various types of incompressible dipolar condensates. In finite-sized systems, however, it may be possible to stabilize a Bose-Einstein insulator: an exotic compressible phase which is insulating, despite the absence of a charge gap. We suggest several ways by which these exotic phases can be identified in near-term cold-atom experiments.