title: Classifying novel phases of spinor atoms.
abstract: We consider many-body states of bosonic spinor atoms which, at the mean-field level, can be characterized by a single-particle wave function for the Bose-Einstein condensation and Mott insulating states. We describe and apply a classification scheme that makes explicit the spin symmetries of such states and enables one to naturally analyze their collective modes and topological excitations. Quite generally, the method allows classification of a spin F system as a polyhedron with 2F vertices. We apply the method to the many-body states of bosons with spins two and three. For spin-two atoms we find the ferromagnetic state, a continuum of nematic states, and a state having the symmetry of the point group of the regular tetrahedron. For spin-three atoms we obtain similar ferromagnetic and nematic phases as well as states having symmetries of various types of polyhedra with six vertices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: Ari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Demler