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Quantum Membrane Phases in Synthetic Lattices of Cold Molecules or Rydberg Atoms

We calculate properties of dipolar interacting ultracold molecules or Rydberg atoms in a semi-synthetic three-dimensional configuration -- one synthetic dimension plus a two-dimensional real space optical lattice or periodic microtrap array -- using the stochastic Green function Quantum Monte Carlo method. Through a calculation of thermodynamic quantities and appropriate correlation functions, along with their finite size scalings, we show that there is a second order transition to a low temperature phase in which two-dimensional `sheets' form in the synthetic dimension of internal rotational or electronic states of the molecules or Rydberg atoms, respectively. Simulations for different values of the interaction $V$, which acts between atoms or molecules that are adjacent both in real and synthetic space, allow us to compute a phase diagram. We find a finite-temperature transition at sufficiently large $V$, as well as a quantum phase transition -- a critical value $V_c$ below which the transition temperature vanishes.