Superfluid--Insulator Transition in Commensurate Disordered Bosonic Systems:Large-Scale Worm-Algorithm Simulations

Abstract

We report results of large-scale Monte Carlo simulations of superfluid--insulator transitions in commensurate 2D bosonic systems. In the case of off-diagonal disorder (quantum percolation), we find that the transition is to a gapless incompressible insulator, and its dynamical critical exponent is $z=1.65 \pm 0.2$. In the case of diagonal disorder, we prove the conjecture that rare statistical fluctuations are inseparable from critical fluctuations on the largest scales and ultimately result in the crossover to the generic universality class (apparently with $z=2$). However, even at strong disorder, the universal behavior sets in only at very large space-time distances. This explains why previous studies of smaller clusters mimicked a direct superfluid--Mott-insulator transition.