Ground state of the Hubbard model with spin-dependent linear potential

Abstract

We investigate the competition between attractive spin-spin interactions and spin-separating external forces in the ground state of a one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model. We consider a lattice with open boundary conditions, subject to a linear external potential whose gradient is opposite for the two spin components, so that each spin species sees a potential minimum at a different end of the lattice. Using density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations, we map the ground-state density distributions and the number of doubly occupied sites as a function of the potential gradient $\beta$ and interaction strength. We identify three distinct regimes separated by critical threshold gradients: (i) a small-$\beta$ regime where fermion pairing remains robust against the external potential; (ii) an intermediate-$\beta$ phase-separated regime characterized by a staircase-like decrease in the doublon number, corresponding to the successive, one-by-one breaking of bound pairs; and (iii) a large-$\beta$ regime where the two spin components are completely spatially separated. We complement the numerical results with a phenomenological model and a local-density approximation analysis, from which we derive closed-form analytical estimates for these critical threshold values. We also verify that the staircase structure persists under additional harmonic confinement. Our results are directly testable in cold-atom experiments, and demonstrate that a spin-dependent linear potential enables precise, integer-level control of the number of bound fermion pairs.