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arXiv:1307.6128 · Physical Review A

Dynamically generated flat-band phases in optical kagome lattices

Gia-Wei Chern, Chih-Chun Chien, Massimiliano Di Ventra

Published Jul 14, 2014• 39 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Motivated by recent advances in the realization of complex two-dimensional optical lattices, we investigate theoretically the quantum transport of ultracold fermions in an optical kagome lattice. In particular, we focus on its extensively degenerate localized states (flat band). By loading fermions in a partial region of the lattice and depleting the mobile atoms at the far boundary of the initially unoccupied region, we find a dynamically generated flat-band insulator, which is also a population-inverted state. We further show that inclusion of weak repulsion leads to a dynamical stripe phase for two-component fermions in a similar setup. Finally, by preparing a topological insulating state in a partially occupied kagome lattice, we find that the topological chiral current decays but exhibits an interesting oscillating dynamics during the nonequilibrium transport. Given the broad variety of lattice geometries supporting localized or topological states, our work suggests new possibilities for using geometrical effects and their dynamics in atomtronic devices.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.90.013609

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Motivated by recent advances in the realization of complex two-dimensional optical lattices, we investigate theoretically the quantum transport of ultracold fermions in an optical kagome lattice. In particular, we focus on its extensively degenerate localized states (flat band). By loading fermions in a partial region of the lattice and depleting the mobile atoms at the far boundary of the initially unoccupied region, we find a dynamically generated flat-band insulator, which is also a population-inverted state. We further show that inclusion of weak repulsion leads to a dynamical stripe phase for two-component fermions in a similar setup. Finally, by preparing a topological insulating state in a partially occupied kagome lattice, we find that the topological chiral current decays but exhibits an interesting oscillating dynamics during the nonequilibrium transport. Given the broad variety of lattice geometries supporting localized or topological states, our work suggests new possibilities for using geometrical effects and their dynamics in atomtronic devices.
Abstract The geometry of optical lattices can be engineered, allowing the study of atomic transport along paths arranged in patterns that are otherwise difficult to probe in the solid state. A question feasible to atomic systems is related to the speed of matter-wave propagation as a function of the lattice geometry. To address this issue, we investigated, theoretically, the quantum transport of noninteracting and weakly-interacting ultracold fermionic atoms in several 2D optical lattice geometries. We find that the triangular lattice has a higher propagation velocity compared to the square lattice, and the cross-linked square lattice has an even faster propagation velocity. The increase results from the mixing of the momentum states which leads to different group velocities in quantum systems. Standard band theory provides an explanation and allows for a systematic way to search and design systems with controllable matter-wave propagation. Moreover, the presence of a flat band such as in a two-leg ladder geometry leads to a dynamical density discontinuity due to its localized atoms. Possible realizations of those dynamical phenomena are discussed.
Using the discrete truncated Wigner approximation (dTWA), we investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of ultracold bosons confined in optical kagome lattices, focusing on both unfrustrated positive and frustrated negative hopping regimes. We consider a protocol in which the system is initialized in a Mott insulating state at unit filling, and the hopping amplitude is gradually increased from zero. For positive hopping, the melting of the Mott insulator is accompanied by the emergence of a sharp peak in the momentum distribution at the ΓΓΓ point of the lowest band, signaling the onset of superfluidity. In contrast, for negative hopping, the Mott insulator melts into a highly nontrivial state without long-range phase coherence, characterized instead by a broad momentum distribution within the flat band, consistent with recent experimental observations. These results demonstrate the applicability of dTWA to highly frustrated quantum systems and offer a new route for numerically exploring the dynamics of frustrated quantum magnets.
The geometry of optical lattices can be engineered allowing the study of\natomic transport along paths arranged in patterns that are otherwise difficult\nto probe in the solid state. A question readily accessible to atomic systems is\nrelated to the speed of propagation of matter-waves as a function of the\nlattice geometry. To address this issue, we have investigated theoretically the\nquantum transport of non-interacting and weakly-interacting ultracold fermionic\natoms in several 2D optical lattice geometries. We find that the triangular\nlattice has a higher propagation velocity compared to the square lattice,\ndespite supporting longer paths. The body-centered square lattice has even\nlonger paths, nonetheless the propagation velocity is yet faster. This apparent\nparadox arises from the mixing of the momentum states which leads to different\ngroup velocities in quantum systems. Standard band theory provides an\nexplanation and allows for a systematic way to search and design systems with\ncontrollable matter-wave propagation. Moreover, the presence of a flat band\nsuch as in a two-leg ladder geometry leads to a dynamical density\ndiscontinuity, which contrasts the behavior of mobile and localized atoms in\nquantum transport. Our predictions are realizable with present experimental\ncapability.
We propose theoretical models that support topological phases and which are relevant to current experiments on lattices hosting photonic modes or ultracold atoms. In the first part of this thesis, we introduce a topological phase on a Kagom ́e lattice whose degrees of freedom are photons. In that context, we discuss two protocols to access the local Berry curvature and the Chern number of Bloch bands from semiclassical dynamics of wavepackets. Secondly, we obtain the phase diagram for bosons at unit filling with repulsive on–site interactions whose kinetic term corresponds to a Chern insulator defined on the honeycomb lattice. In the second part, we turn to recently realized quasi one–dimensional lattices, and un- cover their phase diagrams, comprising low–dimensional Meissner phases, chiral Mott insulating phases as well as abelian fractional quantum Hall states.
Geometric frustration is a phenomenon where local energy constraints cannot be simultaneously satisfied because of geometric reasons. This leads to a manifold of degenerate ground states in which ordering can be highly nontrivial and exotic phases of matter could emerge. In a kagome lattice, both interaction energies of spins and kinetic energies of particles can be frustrated. In the latter case, a single-particle band structure with a flat (dispersionless) energy band results.In this dissertation, we report our experimental studies of interacting bosonic systems in kagome lattices. Such studies are performed with a quantum simulator based on ultracold atoms in optical lattices. We describe upgrades and development of the apparatus that constructs optical kagome lattices in our experiment. We briefly discuss results of an experiment studying the Bose-Hubbard model in a trimerized kagome lattice. We then report the details of an experiment investigating the interplay of kinetic frustration and interactions by probing the band structure of an optical kagome lattice with interacting ultracold bosonic atoms. Finally, we propose experimental ideas for exploring the properties of the singular band touching point in the kagome flat band.
Abstract The manipulation of particle transport in synthetic quantum matter is an active research frontier for its theoretical importance and potential applications. Here we experimentally demonstrate an engineered topological transport in a synthetic flat-band lattice of ultracold 87 Rb atoms. We implement a quasi-one-dimensional rhombic chain with staggered flux in the momentum space of the atomic condensate and observe biased local oscillations that originate from the flat-band localization under the staggered synthetic flux. Based on these features, we design and experimentally confirm a state-dependent chiral transport under the periodic modulation of the synthetic flux. We show that the phenomenon is associated with the topology of the Floquet Bloch bands of a coarse-grained effective Hamiltonian. Our work opens the new avenue for exploring flat-band-assistant topological transport with ultracold atoms, and offers a new strategy for designing efficient quantum device with topological robustness.