Interacting spinless fermions on the square lattice: Charge order, phase separation, and superconductivity

Abstract

We investigate the phase diagram of spinless fermions on a square lattice with nearest-neighbor interaction, using the recently developed projective truncation approximation in Green's function equation of motion. For attractive interaction, the ground state is in an homogeneous p + ip superconducting (SC) phase at high or low electron densities. Near half filling is a phase separation (PS) between the SC phases. Allowing inhomogeneous solution, we obtain p-wave SC domains with positive interface energy. As temperature increases, the SC phases transit into normal phases above Tsc, generating an homogeneous normal phase (far away from n = 1/2), or a PS between normal phases with different densities (close to n = 1/2). Further increasing temperature to Tps, the PS disappears and the particle-hole symmetry of the Hamiltonian is recovered. For repulsive interaction, depending on electron filling, the ground state is in charge-ordered phase (half filling), charge-disordered phase (large hole/electron doping), or PS between them (weak doping). At finite temperature, the regime of charge order phase moves to finite V and extends to finite doping regime.