Dipole-dipole interactions in optical lattices do not follow an inverse cube power law

Abstract

We study the effective dipole-dipole interactions in ultracold quantum gases on optical lattices as a function of asymmetry in confinement along the principal axes of the lattice. In particular, we study the matrix elements of the dipole-dipole interaction in the basis of lowest band Wannier functions which serve as a set of low-energy states for many-body physics on the lattice. We demonstrate that, for shallow lattices in quasi-reduced dimensional scenarios, the effective interaction between dipoles in an optical lattice is non-algebraic in the inter-particle separation at short to medium distance on the lattice scale and has a long-range power-law tail, in contrast to the pure power-law behavior of the dipole-dipole interaction in free space. The modifications to the free-space interaction can be sizable; we identify differences of up to 36% from the free-space interaction at the nearest-neighbor distance in quasi-one-dimensional arrangements. The interaction difference depends essentially on asymmetry in confinement, due to the d-wave anisotropy of the dipole-dipole interaction. Our results do not depend on statistics, applying to both dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates and degenerate Fermi gases. Using matrix product state simulations, we demonstrate that use of the correct lattice dipolar interaction leads to significant deviations from many-body predictions using the free-space interaction. Our results are relevant to up and coming experiments with ultracold heteronuclear molecules, Rydberg atoms and strongly magnetic atoms in optical lattices. © IOP Publishing and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.