Staggered quantum phases of dipolar bosons at finite temperatures

Abstract: The extended Bose-Hubbard model with correlated tunneling exhibits staggered superfluid and supersolid quantum phases. We study finite-temperature phase transitions of quantum phases of dipolar bosons in a two-dimensional optical lattice using Gutzwiller mean-field and quantum Monte Carlo approaches. When nearest-neighbor repulsion is comparable to the on-site interaction, we find that the two topologically distinct superfluids are separated by a normal fluid phase, while at stronger off-site interactions, density-modulated insulating quantum phases appear. We estimate the critical temperature of the staggered superfluid to normal fluid transition and show that this transition is of the Kosterlitz-Thouless type. Finally, we elucidate the coexistence of staggered quantum phases in the presence of an external trapping potential. Our study paves a way to observe novel staggered quantum phases in recent dipolar optical lattice experiments.