Bosons confined in optical lattices: The numerical renormalization group revisited

A Bose-Hubbard model, describing bosons in a harmonic trap with a superimposed optical lattice, is studied using a fast and accurate variational technique (MF+NRG): the Gutzwiller mean-field (MF) ansatz is combined with a numerical renormalization group (NRG) procedure in order to improve on both. Results are presented for one, two, and three dimensions, with particular attention to the experimentally accessible momentum distribution and possible satellite peaks in this distribution. In one dimension, a comparison is made with exact results obtained using stochastic series expansion.