Topological Quantum Phases of He4 Confined to Nanoporous Materials

Lode Pollet and Anatoly B. Kuklov
Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 045301 – Published 21 July 2014
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Abstract

The ground state of He4 confined in a system with the topology of cylinder can display properties of solid, superfluid, and liquid crystal. This phase, which we call a compactified supersolid (CSS), originates from wrapping the basal planes of the bulk hcp solid into concentric cylindrical shells, with several central shells exhibiting superfluidity along the axial direction. Its main feature is the presence of a topological defect which can be viewed as a disclination with Frank index n=1 observed in liquid crystals, and which, in addition, has a superfluid core. The CSS as well as its transition to an insulating compactified solid with a very wide hysteresis loop are found by ab initio Monte Carlo simulations. A simple analytical model captures qualitatively correctly the main property of the CSS—a gradual decrease of the superfluid response with increasing pressure.

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  • Received 1 March 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.045301

© 2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Lode Pollet

  • Department of Physics, Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, University of Munich, Theresienstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany

Anatoly B. Kuklov

  • Department of Engineering Science and Physics, CUNY, Staten Island, New York 10314, USA

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Issue

Vol. 113, Iss. 4 — 25 July 2014

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