Berlin 2008 – scientific programme
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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen
TT 7: Matter at Low Temperature: Poster Session
TT 7.16: Poster
Monday, February 25, 2008, 14:00–18:00, Poster B
Mott transition of fermionic atoms in a three-dimensional optical trap — •Rolf Helmes1, Theo Costi2, and Achim Rosch1 — 1Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne — 2Institute of Solid State Research, Research Center Jülich, Germany
We study theoretically the Mott metal-insulator transition for a system of fermionic atoms confined in a three-dimensional optical lattice and a harmonic trap. We describe an inhomogeneous system of several thousand sites using an adaptation of dynamical mean field theory solved efficiently with the numerical renormalization group method. Above a critical value of the on-site interaction, a Mott-insulating phase appears in the system. We investigate signatures of the Mott phase in the density profile and in time-of-flight experiments. Moreover, the incompressible Mott phase can be detected by squeezing the trap, where we keep track of the thermodynamic quantities during this adiabatic process.