Simulating heavy fermion physics in optical lattice: Periodic Anderson model with harmonic trapping potential

Abstract

Periodic Anderson model (PAM), where local electron orbitals interplay with itinerant electronic carriers, plays an essential role in our understanding on heavy fermion materials. Motivated by recent proposal of simulating Kondo lattice model (KLM) in terms of alkaline-earth metal atoms, we make a further step toward simulation of PAM, which includes crucial charge/valence fluctuation of local f-electron beyond purely low-energy spin fluctuation in KLM. To realize PAM, transition induced by suitable laser between electronic excited and ground state of alkaline-earth metal atoms ($^{1}S_{0}$$\rightleftharpoons$$^{3}P_{0}$) is introduced, and it leads to effective hybridization between local electron and conduction electron in PAM. Generally, the $SU(N)$ version of PAM can be realized by our proposal, which gives a unique opportunity to detect large-$N$ physics without complexity in realistic materials. In the present work, high temperature physical feature of standard ($SU(2)$) PAM with harmonic trapping potential is detailed analyzed by quantum Monte Carlo and dynamic mean-field theory. Indications for near-future experiments are provided. We expect our theoretical proposal and (hopefully) forthcoming experiment will deepen our understanding on heavy fermion systems and at the same time triggers further studies on related Mott physics, quantum criticality and non-trivial topology in both inhomogeneous and nonequilibrium realm.