Coherence, Transport, and Chaos in 1D Bose-Hubbard Model: Disorder vs. Stark Potential

Abstract: We study quantum coherence and phase transitions in a finite-size one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model using exact numerical diagonalization. The system is investigated under the competing effects of thermal fluctuations, a Stark potential, and a disorder term. We compute several observables, including the condensate fraction, superfluid fraction, visibility, number fluctuations, and the $\ell_1$-norm of quantum coherence, to characterize the transition from the Mott insulator to the superfluid phase. In the standard Bose-Hubbard model, ground-state properties exhibit signatures of a quantum phase transition under open boundary conditions. While finite-size effects preclude an exact realization of the thermodynamic transition, our findings serve as indicators of the underlying quantum critical behavior of the disordered Bose-Hubbard model. At finite temperatures, this critical point shifts to a smooth crossover, reflecting the suppression of long-range coherence typical of larger systems. A nonzero Stark potential delays this crossover, promoting localization and the formation of non-superfluid condensates. In contrast, thermal fluctuations can induce unexpected coherence through fluctuation-driven tunneling. Disorder disrupts superfluidity but preserves local coherence, with thermal states exhibiting an enhanced $\ell_1$-norm of coherence within the Bose glass regime. Our results highlight how disorder, tilt, and temperature jointly reshape the coherence landscape, and offer valuable insights for quantum simulation and the characterization of quantum phases in strongly correlated systems. Non-ergodic behavior is observed in the clean system where the mean gap ratio stays below Poisson and Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (GOE) values. With a Stark potential, level statistics shift from Poisson-like to near-GOE as tunneling increases, which indicates a crossover to semi-ergodic dynamics.