A Wave Function Describing Superfluidity in a Perfect Crystal
Abstract
We propose a many-body wave function that exhibits both diagonal and off-diagonal long-range order. Incorporating short-range correlations due to interatomic repulsion, this wave function is shown to allow condensation of zero-point lattice vibrations and phase rigidity. In the presence of an external velocity field, such a perfect crystal will develop non-classical rotational inertia, exhibiting the supersolid behavior. In a sample calculation we show that the superfluid fraction in this state can be as large as of order 0.01 in a reasonable range of microscopic parameters. The relevance to the recent experimental evidence of a supersolid state by Chan and Kim is discussed.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0501309,
title = {A Wave Function Describing Superfluidity in a Perfect Crystal},
author = {Hui Zhai and Yong-Shi Wu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0501309},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
final version to be published in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment