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Quantum physics

A firmer grip on the Hubbard model

Nature volume 545, pages 414–415 (2017)Cite this article

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The Hubbard model describes the behaviour of interacting quantum particles, but many of its properties remain unknown. A system of ultracold atoms could provide the key to determining the model's underlying physics. See Letter p.462

To understand the properties of many materials, we must solve the exceedingly difficult problems that are associated with systems of interacting quantum particles. Among the theoretical descriptions of these systems, the Hubbard model1 can explain phenomena such as magnetic order (the ordering of magnetic moments) and metal–insulator transitions. However, despite its apparent simplicity, the model has proved extremely challenging to analyse. On page 462, Mazurenko et al.2 report a realization of the Hubbard model using a system of ultracold atoms (at temperatures of tens of nanokelvin). The authors demonstrate the emergence and disappearance of magnetic order in their system when it is cooled and when its density is reduced, respectively. These observations suggest that the authors' system could potentially reach the regime in which previously unknown physics is expected to exist in this model.

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Figure 1: Key properties of the Hubbard model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Quantum Matter Physics, University of Geneva, Geneva 4, CH1211, Switzerland

    Thierry Giamarchi

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  1. Thierry Giamarchi
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Correspondence to Thierry Giamarchi.

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Giamarchi, T. A firmer grip on the Hubbard model. Nature 545, 414–415 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/545414a

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