Abstract
Harmonically trapped lattice bosons with strong repulsive interactions exhibit a superfluid-Mott-insulator heterostructure in the form of a “wedding cake.” We discuss the mesoscopic aspects of such a system within a one-dimensional scattering matrix approach and calculate the scattering properties of quasiparticles at a superfluid-Mott-insulator interface as an elementary building block to describe transport phenomena across such a boundary. We apply the formalism to determine the heat conductivity through a Mott layer, a quantity relevant to describe thermalization processes in the optical lattice setup. We identify a critical hopping below which the heat conductivity is strongly suppressed.
- Received 30 March 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.79.174504
©2009 American Physical Society