Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1106.0945 · Frontiers of Physics

Simulating cyclotron-Bloch dynamics of a charged particle in a 2D lattice by means of cold atoms in driven quasi-1D optical lattices

Andrey R. Kolovsky

Published Jul 29, 2011• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum dynamics of a charged particle in a two-dimensional (2D) lattice subject to magnetic and electric fields is a rather complicated interplay between cyclotron oscillations (the case of vanishing electric field) and Bloch oscillations (zero magnetic field), details of which has not yet been completely understood. In the present work we suggest to study this problem by using cold atoms in optical lattices. We introduce a one-dimensional (1D) model which can be easily realized in laboratory experiments with quasi-1D optical lattices and show that this model captures many features of the cyclotron-Bloch dynamics of the quantum particle in 2D square lattices.

DOI
10.1007/s11467-011-0202-3

Related papers

Landau-Stark states and cyclotron-Bloch oscillations of a quantum particle

Andrey R. Kolovsky, Giorgio Mantica

Recent experimental progress in the creation of synthetic electric and magnetic fields, acting on cold atoms in a two-dimensional lattice, has attracted renewed interest to the problem of a quantum particle in the Hall configuration. The present work contains a detailed analysis of the eigenstates of this system, called Landau-Stark states, and of the associated dynamical phenomenon of cyclotron-Bloch oscillations. It is shown that Landau-Stark states and cyclotron-Bloch oscillations crucially depend on two factors. The first is the orientation of the electric field relative to the primary axes of the lattice. The second is ratio between the frequencies of Bloch and cyclotron oscillations, that is also the ratio between the magnitudes of electric and magnetic fields. The analysis is first carried out in the tight-binding approximation, where the magnetic field is characterized by the Peierls phase entering the hopping matrix elements. Agreement of this analysis with the full quantum theory is also studied.

arXiv:1406.0276•Jun 2, 2014•1 citation

Cyclotron dynamics of cold atoms in 2D optical lattices

Andrey R. Kolovsky

We propose a simple setup for introducing an artificial magnetic field for neutral atoms in 2D optical lattices. This setup is based on the phenomenon of photon-assistent tunneling and involves a low-frequency periodic driving of the optical lattice. We also address the problem of detecting this effective magnetic field. In particular, we discuss interference patterns of the atomic wave function and study the center of mass wave-packet dynamics, which shows some features of cyclotron dynamics of a classical charged particle. Introduction. – A major motivation of current research with cold atoms in optical lattices is the prospect of simulating the solid state physics. However, to have a full access to phenomena of the solid state physics this system (which can be considered as an artificial crystal) should be accomplished by artificial electric and magnetic fields. In present days experiments the former case of external electric field is routinely mimicked by accelerating the optical lattice [1–3], or by using the gravitational force [4–6] or a combination of gravitational and levitational forces [7]. The case of magnetic field is more difficult for laboratory realization because it requires a setup, where atomic wave function acquires a finite phase when the atom tunnels along a closed path on the lattice. This setup was suggested in the seminal paper [8], where the authors use two independent 2D optical lattices for two different internal atomic states, which are coupled by additional Raman lasers. The Rabi transition between internal states induces hopping of the atom between nearest lattice sites, where the required phase accumulation is achieved by using a special geometry for the Raman beams. This idea was developed further in Ref. [9, 10]. It was shown that one can also introduce an exotic (unphysical) field and non-Abelian gauge potentials by using the Raman-laser technique. For atoms in a harmonic trap (no lattice) the Raman scheme with 3 spin states of the F = 1 electronic ground state of Rb atom was realized in the recent experiment [11]. In this setup the magnitude of the effective magnetic field is defined by the gradient of the real magnetic field which splits the F = 1 level into Zeeman sublevels. In the paper the authors put forward a conjecture that this scheme should work in the presence of an optical lattice as well. We note that the cited experiment also illuminated a drawback of the Raman-laser based techniques. Namely, the spontaneous emission from the Raman beams removes atom from the trap, causing the population to decay within approx. 2 seconds.

•Jun 28, 2010•2 citations

Bloch oscillations of cold atoms in two-dimensional optical lattices

Andrey R. Kolovsky, H. J. Korsch

Bloch oscillations of cold atoms in two-dimensional optical lattices are studied. The cases of separable and nonseparable potentials are compared by simulating the wave-packet dynamics. For these two classes of optical potential, the Bloch oscillations were found to be qualitatively the same in the case of a weak static field but fundamentally different in the case of a strong field. In addition, the dynamics of the atoms in a double-period potential (which can easily be realized in two dimensions) is studied for the regime of a weak static field.

Physical Review A•Jun 4, 2003•73 citations

Creating artificial magnetic fields for cold atoms by photon-assisted tunneling

Andrey R. Kolovsky

This paper proposes a simple setup for introducing an artificial magnetic field for neutral atoms in 2D optical lattices. This setup is based on the phenomenon of photon-assisted tunneling and involves a low-frequency periodic driving of the optical lattice. This low-frequency driving does not affect the electronic structure of the atom and can be easily realized by the same means which are employed to create the lattice. We also address the problem of detecting this effective magnetic field. In particular, we study the center-of-mass wave packet dynamics, which is shown to exhibit certain features of cyclotron dynamics of a classical charged particle.

arXiv:1006.5270•Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Jan 1, 2011•167 citations

Bloch oscillations of cold atoms in optical lattices

Kolovsky, A. R., Korsch, H. Y.

This work is devoted to Bloch oscillations (BO) of cold neutral atoms in optical lattices. After a general introduction to the phenomenon of BO and its realization in optical lattices, we study different extentions of this problem, which account for recent developments in this field. These are two-dimensional BO, decoherence of BO, and BO in correlated systems. Although these problems are discussed in relation to the system of cold atoms in optical lattices, many of the results are of general validity and can be well applied to other systems showing the phenomenon of BO.

•Jan 1, 2004•25 citations

One- and two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensation of atoms in dark magneto-optical lattices

А. В. Тайченачев, Anatolii M Tumaikin, Valeriy I. Yudin

The motion of atoms in a dark magneto-optical lattice is considered. This lattice is formed by a non-uniformly polarized laser field in the presence of a static magnetic field. Cold atoms are localized in the vicinity of points where dark states are not destroyed by a magnetic field. As a result, the optical interaction tends to zero (dark or grey lattices). Depending on the field configuration such a lattice can exhibit one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) periodicity. It is shown that in 1D and 2D dark magneto-optical lattices the effects connected with the Bose statistics of particles can be observed under temperatures 10 -5 -10 -6 K and densities 10 11 -10 12 cm -3 , i.e. those that are usual for current experiments on laser cooling.

arXiv:physics/9902045•Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical Optics•Aug 13, 1999•5 citations
Quantum dynamics of a charged particle in a two-dimensional (2D) lattice subject to magnetic and electric fields is a rather complicated interplay between cyclotron oscillations (the case of vanishing electric field) and Bloch oscillations (zero magnetic field), details of which has not yet been completely understood. In the present work we suggest to study this problem by using cold atoms in optical lattices. We introduce a one-dimensional (1D) model which can be easily realized in laboratory experiments with quasi-1D optical lattices and show that this model captures many features of the cyclotron-Bloch dynamics of the quantum particle in 2D square lattices.
Recent experimental progress in the creation of synthetic electric and magnetic fields, acting on cold atoms in a two-dimensional lattice, has attracted renewed interest to the problem of a quantum particle in the Hall configuration. The present work contains a detailed analysis of the eigenstates of this system, called Landau-Stark states, and of the associated dynamical phenomenon of cyclotron-Bloch oscillations. It is shown that Landau-Stark states and cyclotron-Bloch oscillations crucially depend on two factors. The first is the orientation of the electric field relative to the primary axes of the lattice. The second is ratio between the frequencies of Bloch and cyclotron oscillations, that is also the ratio between the magnitudes of electric and magnetic fields. The analysis is first carried out in the tight-binding approximation, where the magnetic field is characterized by the Peierls phase entering the hopping matrix elements. Agreement of this analysis with the full quantum theory is also studied.
We propose a simple setup for introducing an artificial magnetic field for neutral atoms in 2D optical lattices. This setup is based on the phenomenon of photon-assistent tunneling and involves a low-frequency periodic driving of the optical lattice. We also address the problem of detecting this effective magnetic field. In particular, we discuss interference patterns of the atomic wave function and study the center of mass wave-packet dynamics, which shows some features of cyclotron dynamics of a classical charged particle. Introduction. – A major motivation of current research with cold atoms in optical lattices is the prospect of simulating the solid state physics. However, to have a full access to phenomena of the solid state physics this system (which can be considered as an artificial crystal) should be accomplished by artificial electric and magnetic fields. In present days experiments the former case of external electric field is routinely mimicked by accelerating the optical lattice [1–3], or by using the gravitational force [4–6] or a combination of gravitational and levitational forces [7]. The case of magnetic field is more difficult for laboratory realization because it requires a setup, where atomic wave function acquires a finite phase when the atom tunnels along a closed path on the lattice. This setup was suggested in the seminal paper [8], where the authors use two independent 2D optical lattices for two different internal atomic states, which are coupled by additional Raman lasers. The Rabi transition between internal states induces hopping of the atom between nearest lattice sites, where the required phase accumulation is achieved by using a special geometry for the Raman beams. This idea was developed further in Ref. [9, 10]. It was shown that one can also introduce an exotic (unphysical) field and non-Abelian gauge potentials by using the Raman-laser technique. For atoms in a harmonic trap (no lattice) the Raman scheme with 3 spin states of the F = 1 electronic ground state of Rb atom was realized in the recent experiment [11]. In this setup the magnitude of the effective magnetic field is defined by the gradient of the real magnetic field which splits the F = 1 level into Zeeman sublevels. In the paper the authors put forward a conjecture that this scheme should work in the presence of an optical lattice as well. We note that the cited experiment also illuminated a drawback of the Raman-laser based techniques. Namely, the spontaneous emission from the Raman beams removes atom from the trap, causing the population to decay within approx. 2 seconds.
Bloch oscillations of cold atoms in two-dimensional optical lattices are studied. The cases of separable and nonseparable potentials are compared by simulating the wave-packet dynamics. For these two classes of optical potential, the Bloch oscillations were found to be qualitatively the same in the case of a weak static field but fundamentally different in the case of a strong field. In addition, the dynamics of the atoms in a double-period potential (which can easily be realized in two dimensions) is studied for the regime of a weak static field.
This paper proposes a simple setup for introducing an artificial magnetic field for neutral atoms in 2D optical lattices. This setup is based on the phenomenon of photon-assisted tunneling and involves a low-frequency periodic driving of the optical lattice. This low-frequency driving does not affect the electronic structure of the atom and can be easily realized by the same means which are employed to create the lattice. We also address the problem of detecting this effective magnetic field. In particular, we study the center-of-mass wave packet dynamics, which is shown to exhibit certain features of cyclotron dynamics of a classical charged particle.
This work is devoted to Bloch oscillations (BO) of cold neutral atoms in optical lattices. After a general introduction to the phenomenon of BO and its realization in optical lattices, we study different extentions of this problem, which account for recent developments in this field. These are two-dimensional BO, decoherence of BO, and BO in correlated systems. Although these problems are discussed in relation to the system of cold atoms in optical lattices, many of the results are of general validity and can be well applied to other systems showing the phenomenon of BO.
The motion of atoms in a dark magneto-optical lattice is considered. This lattice is formed by a non-uniformly polarized laser field in the presence of a static magnetic field. Cold atoms are localized in the vicinity of points where dark states are not destroyed by a magnetic field. As a result, the optical interaction tends to zero (dark or grey lattices). Depending on the field configuration such a lattice can exhibit one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) periodicity. It is shown that in 1D and 2D dark magneto-optical lattices the effects connected with the Bose statistics of particles can be observed under temperatures 10 -5 -10 -6 K and densities 10 11 -10 12 cm -3 , i.e. those that are usual for current experiments on laser cooling.