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SYPT: Symposium Quantum Phase Transitions

SYPT 1: SYPT

SYPT 1.6: Invited Talk

Monday, February 25, 2008, 17:10–17:45, H 0105

Correlated inhomogeneous systems: from trapped atoms to heterostructures — •Achim Rosch — Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne

How does a metal penetrate into a Mott insulator? This fundamental question is not only relevant for the physics of heterostructures but governs also the physics of domain formation close to a phase transition or the Mott transition of fermionic atoms in a trap. We use an adaptation of dynamical mean field theory for inhomogeneous system (in combination with the numerical renormalization group) to study the interface of a metal and a Mott insulator close to its quantum critical point. Furthermore, we investigate the interplay of Coulomb interaction and domain formation and study experimental signatures of the Mott transition of atoms confined in an optical lattice and a harmonic trap.