Phase diagram of one-dimensional hard-core bosons with three-body interactions

We determine the phase diagram of a one-dimensional system of hard-core lattice bosons interacting via repulsive three-body interactions by analytic methods and extensive quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Such three-body interactions can be derived from a microscopic theory for polar molecules trapped in an optical lattice. Depending on the strength of the interactions and the particle density, we find superfluid and solid phases, the latter appearing at an unconventional filling of the lattice and displaying a coexistence of charge-density wave and bond orders. © 2009 The American Physical Society.