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arXiv:1411.2297 · Annual review of cold atoms and molecules

SPIN-ORBIT COUPLING IN OPTICAL LATTICES

Shizhong Zhang, William S. Cole, Arun Paramekanti, Nandini Trivedi

Published Mar 24, 2015• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In this review, we discuss the physics of spin-orbit coupled quantum gases in optical lattices. After reviewing some relevant experimental techniques, we introduce the basic theoretical model and discuss some of its generic features. In particular, we concentrate on the interplay between spin-orbit coupling and strong interactions and show how it leads to various exotic quantum phases in both the Mott insulating and superfluid regimes. Phase transitions between the Mott and superfluid states are also discussed.

DOI
10.1142/9789814667746_0003

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In this review, we discuss the physics of spin-orbit coupled quantum gases in optical lattices. After reviewing some relevant experimental techniques, we introduce the basic theoretical model and discuss some of its generic features. In particular, we concentrate on the interplay between spin-orbit coupling and strong interactions and show how it leads to various exotic quantum phases in both the Mott insulating and superfluid regimes. Phase transitions between the Mott and superfluid states are also discussed.
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Mott insulator to superfluid phase transitions and unconventional superfluid phases in spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate in one dimensional, square and hexagonal optical lattices are investigated using decoupling approximation and variational Gutzwiller wave function. We considered a system with two components. In the first part, we used decoupling approximation along side perturbation to chart the phase diagrams of the system in the absence of spin-orbit coupling. Our results show that the occupation number of the species, interspecies interaction and the ratio of the hopping matrix of the species dictate the critical point and the separation of the insulating phases. Applying decoupling approximation to spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate in one dimensional optical we find that spin-orbit coupling reduces the phase boundary of Mott insulator-superfluid transition and also modifies the critical point in a way that the critical point reduces as the coupling strength increases. In the second part, we applied the variational Gutzwiller wave function to spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate in square and hexagonal lattice. Our results show that the geometry of the optical lattice plays a role in the transition. We find that the mean-field Mott insulator-superfluid phase transition boundary of hexagonal lattice is smaller than that of square lattice for the same system. Finally, we showed that the Gutzwiller variational approach gives us access to the twisted superfluid phase realized in the system. The nonuniformity of the superfluid phase is different for the two lattices.
We study the effects of spin-orbit coupling on the Mott-superfluid transition of bosons in a one-dimensional optical lattice. We determine the strong-coupling magnetic phase diagram by a combination of exact analytic and numerical means. Smooth evolution of the magnetic structure into the superfluid phases is investigated with the density matrix renormalization group technique. Other magnetic phases are seen and phase transitions between them within the superfluid regime are discussed. Possible experimental detection is discussed.
Spin-orbit coupling plays an important role in understanding exotic quantum phases. In this work, we present a scheme to combine spin-orbital-angular-momentum (SOAM) coupling and strong correlations in ultracold atomic gases. Essential ingredients of this setting is the interplay of SOAM coupling and Raman-induced spin-flip hopping, engineered by lasers that couples different hyperfine spin states. In the presence of SOAM coupling only, we find rich quantum phases in the Mott-insulating regime, which support different types of spin defects such as spin vortex and composite vortex with antiferromagnetic core surrounded by the outer spin vortex. Based on an effective exchange model, we find that these competing spin textures are a result of the interplay of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and Heisenberg exchange interactions. In the presence of both SOAM coupling and Raman-induced spin-flip hopping, more many-body phases appear, including canted-antiferromagnetic and stripe phases. Our prediction suggests that SOAM coupling could induce rich exotic many-body phases in the strongly interacting regime.
We study the interplay effect of spin-orbit coupling(SOC) and optical lattice to the single-particle physics and superfluid-insulator transition in ultracold Fermi gases. We consider the type of SOC that has been realized in cold atoms experiments via two-photon Raman processes. Our analyses are based on the knowledge of full single-particle spectrum in lattices, without relying on any tightbinding approximation. We point out that the tight-binding models used in literature are either very limited or completely inapplicable in predicting the correct single-particle physics. Moreover, we show that the Raman field (creating SOC) can induce band-gap closing in a two-dimensional optical lattice, leading to the intriguing phenomenon of superfluidity-reentrance for interacting fermions at integer filling. We present the superfluid-insulator phase diagram in a wide parameter regime of chemical potentials and Raman fields. All these results are far beyond any tight-binding model can predict, and can be directly probed in current cold atoms experiments
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