Effects of effective attractive multi-body interaction on quantum phase and transport dynamics of a strongly correlated bosonic gas across the superfluid to Mott insulator transition

We theoretically investigate quantum phases and transport dynamics of ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice in the presence of effective multi-body interaction. When a harmonic external potential is added, several interesting phenomena are revealed, such as the broadening and the emergence of a central insulator plateau and the phase transition between superfluid and Mott insulator phase. We also study the transport of the system which runs across the superfluid—insulator transition after ramping up the lattice, and predict a slower relaxation which is attributed to the influence of the multi-body interaction on the mass transport.