Deconfinement and Phase Diagram of Bosons in a Linear Optical Lattice with a Particle Reservoir

We investigate the zero-temperature phases of bosons in a one-dimensional optical lattice with an explicit tunnel coupling to a Bose-condensed particle reservoir. Renormalization group analysis of this system is shown to reveal three phases: one in which the linear system is fully phase locked to the reservoir; one in which Josephson vortices between the one-dimensional system and the particle reservoir deconfine due to quantum fluctuations, leading to a decoupled state in which the one-dimensional system is metallic; and one in which the one-dimensional system is in a Mott insulating state