Chiral Mott insulator of kinetically frustrated bosons*

We study the phase diagram of the fully frustrated Bose Hubbard (FFBH) model - the presence of a $\pi$-flux through each plaquette leads to kinetic frustration for the bosons making this a nontrivial model of quantum frustration. The FFBH model is equivalent to a model of frustrated quantum XY spins, or a fully frustrated Josephson junction array where one tunes the ratio of the charging energy to the Josephson coupling. Using Monte Carlo simulations and DMRG calculations on a ladder, we show that the ground state of this model is, at intermediate correlations, a Chiral Mott insulator which supports staggered loop currents. We characterize this Mott phase as a vortex supersolid or an exciton condensate and discuss experimental observables and generalizations.