Process-chain approach to the Bose-Hubbard model: Ground-state properties and phase diagram

We carry out a perturbative analysis, of high order in the tunneling parameter, of the ground state of the homogeneous Bose-Hubbard model in the Mott insulator phase. This is made possible by a diagrammatic process-chain approach, derived from Kato's representation of the many-body perturbation series, which can be implemented numerically in a straightforward manner. We compute ground-state energies, atom-atom correlation functions, density-density correlations, and occupation number fluctuations, for one-, two-, and three-dimensional lattices with arbitrary integer filling. A phenomenological scaling behavior is found which renders the data almost independent of the filling factor. In addition, the process-chain approach is employed for calculating the boundary between the Mott insulator phase and the superfluid phase with high accuracy. We also consider systems with dimensionalities d>3, thus monitoring the approach to the mean-field limit. The versatility of the method suggests further applications to other systems which are less well understood.