Abstract
In the fermionic Hubbard model, doubly occupied states have an exponentially large lifetime for strong repulsive interactions . We show that this property can be used to prepare a metastable -wave superfluid state for fermionic atoms in optical lattices described by a large- Hubbard model. When an initial band-insulating state is expanded, the doubly occupied sites Bose condense. A mapping to the ferromagnetic Heisenberg model in an external field allows for a reliable solution of the problem. Nearest-neighbor repulsion and pair hopping are important in stabilizing superfluidity.
- Received 5 September 2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.265301
©2008 American Physical Society