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:2003.14339 · Physical Review Research

Synthetic flux attachment

Gerard Valentí-Rojas, Niclas Westerberg, Patrik Öhberg

Published Sep 21, 2020• 22 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Topological field theories emerge at low energy in strongly correlated condensed matter systems and appear in the context of planar gravity.In particular, the study of Chern-Simons terms gives rise to the concept of flux attachment when the gauge field is coupled to matter, yielding flux-charge composites.We investigate the generation of flux attachment in a Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of nonlinear synthetic gauge potentials.In doing so, we identify the U (1) Chern-Simons gauge field as a singular density-dependent gauge potential, which in turn can be expressed as a Berry connection.We envisage a proof-of-concept scheme where the artificial gauge field is perturbatively induced by an effective light-matter detuning created by interparticle interactions.At a mean field level, we recover the action of a "charged" superfluid minimally coupled to both a background and a Chern-Simons gauge field.Remarkably, a localized density perturbation in combination with a nonlinear gauge potential gives rise to an effective composite boson model of fractional quantum Hall effect, displaying anyonic vortices.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.2.033453

Related papers

Title: Self-Generated Gauge Fields in Quantum Matter (SGGF)

Jincheng Zhang

In many-body quantum systems the collective behavior of electrons can give rise to emergent phenomena that are not apparent from the underlying microscopic Hamiltonian. A particularly intriguing possibility is that the internal dynamics of a material can spontaneously generate a gauge potential A_mu^eff that couples to the electronic degrees of freedom in a manner formally identical to a conventional electromagnetic gauge field. This paper develops a theoretical framework for such self-generated gauge fields (SGGF) in quantum matter. Starting from a generic Hubbard-type model with long-range interactions, we derive an effective action for the fermions after integrating out high-energy modes. The resulting low-energy theory contains a covariant derivative D_mu = partial_mu - i A_mu^eff, where A_mu^eff emerges from the collective spin and charge fluctuations. We analyze the symmetry properties of the emergent field, show that it can acquire a mass gap or remain gapless depending on the underlying lattice geometry and interaction strength, and discuss the conditions under which it leads to novel topological responses. In particular, we identify a mechanism by which a chiral spin liquid state induces a Chern–Simons term for A_mu^eff, thereby realizing a fractional quantum Hall response without external magnetic fields. The possibility of realizing SGGF in cold atom simulators and in twisted bilayer graphene is highlighted. We conclude that the discovery of self-generated gauge fields opens a new avenue for engineering artificial fundamental interactions in solid-state platforms and for probing the interplay between topology and strong correlations.

•Aug 19, 2026•0 citations

Coupling ultracold matter to dynamical gauge fields in optical lattices: From flux-attachment to Z2 lattice gauge theories

Luca Barbiero, Schweizer, Christian, Monika Aidelsburger +3 more

Artificial magnetic fields and spin-orbit couplings have been recently generated in ultracold gases in view of realizing topological states of matter and frustrated magnetism in a highly-controllable environment. Despite being dynamically tunable, such artificial gauge fields are genuinely classical and exhibit no back-action from the neutral particles. Here we go beyond this paradigm, and demonstrate how quantized dynamical gauge fields can be created in mixtures of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. Specifically, we propose a protocol by which atoms of one species carry a magnetic flux felt by another species, hence realizing an instance of flux-attachment. This is obtained by combining coherent lattice modulation techniques with strong Hubbard interactions. We demonstrate how this setting can be arranged so as to implement lattice models displaying a local Z2 gauge symmetry, both in one and two dimensions. We also provide a detailed analysis of a ladder toy model, which features a global Z2 symmetry, and reveal the phase transitions that occur both in the matter and gauge sectors. Mastering flux-attachment in optical lattices envisages a new route towards the realization of strongly-correlated systems with properties dictated by an interplay of dynamical matter and gauge fields.

arXiv:1810.02777•Oct 5, 2018•14 citations

Dual approach to soft-core anyonic Lieb-Liniger fluids

Gerard Valentí-Rojas, Patrik Öhberg

The identity of quantum matter can be effectively altered by means of gauge fields. In two spatial dimensions this is illustrated by the Chern-Simons flux-attachment mechanism, but such a mechanism is not possible in lower dimensions. Here, we study a one-dimensional interacting Bose gas in the presence of a gauge field. This model can be explicitly mapped into an interacting anyonic system by a large gauge transformation, indicating a statistical transmutation analogous to that of Chern-Simons. The Bogoliubov spectrum in the weakly-interacting limit reveals the presence of a roton minimum arising from the statistical interaction. At a mean-field level chiral solitons are recovered. Should these be understood as quantum bound states, it is natural to interpret them as corresponding to localised anyonic quasiparticles. Hydrodynamic arguments highlight the presence of dispersive chiral shock waves in the propagation of a wavepacket due to a Riemann-Hopf nonlinearity. Numerical calculations show the presence of both chiral soliton trains and shock waves.

arXiv:2407.06108•Jul 8, 2024•0 citations

Topological gauge fields and the composite particle duality

Gerard Valentí-Rojas, Aneirin J. Baker, Alessio Celi +1 more

We unveil a duality that extends the notions of both flux attachment and statistical transmutation in spacetime dimensions beyond ($2+1$)D. Thus, a quantum system in arbitrary dimensions can experience a modification of its statistical properties if coupled to a certain gauge field. For instance, a bosonic quantum fluid can feature composite fermionic (or anyonic) excitations when coupled to a statistical gauge field. We compute the explicit form of the aforementioned synthetic gauge fields in $\text{D}\ensuremath{\le}3+1$. We introduce a bosonic liquid and its composite dual in ($1+1$)D as proof of principle. We recover well-known results, resolve old controversies, and suggest a microscopic mechanism for the emergence of such a gauge field. We also outline potential directions for experimental realizations in ultracold atom platforms.

arXiv:2211.06668•Physical Review Research•May 30, 2023•7 citations

Nonlinear synthetic gauge potentials and sonic horizons in Bose-Einstein condensates

Salvatore Butera, Niclas Westerberg, Daniele Faccio +1 more

Phonons in a Bose-Einstein condensate can be made to behave as if they propagate in curved spacetime by controlling the condensate flow speed. Seemingly disconnected to this, artificial gauge potentials can be induced in charge neutral atomic condensates by for instance coupling two atomic levels to a laser field. Here we connect these two worlds and show that synthetic interacting gauge fields, i.e., density-dependent gauge potentials, induce a non-trivial spacetime structure for the phonons. This allows for the creation of new spacetime geometries which depend not on the flow speed of the condensate but on an easily controlled transverse laser phase. Using this, we show how to create artificial black holes in a stationary condensate, we simulate charge in a Reissner-Nordström black hole and induce cosmological horizons by creating de Sitter spacetimes. We then show how to combine this de Sitter spacetime with a black hole, which also opens up the possibility to study in experiments its quantum stability.

arXiv:1605.05556•May 18, 2016•1 citation

Topological Growing of Laughlin States in Synthetic Gauge Fields

Fabian Grusdt, Fabian Letscher, Mohammad Hafezi +1 more

We suggest a scheme for the preparation of highly correlated Laughlin states in the presence of synthetic gauge fields, realizing an analogue of the fractional quantum Hall effect in photonic or atomic systems of interacting bosons. It is based on the idea of growing such states by adding weakly interacting composite fermions along with magnetic flux quanta one by one. The topologically protected Thouless pump ("Laughlin's argument") is used to create two localized flux quanta and the resulting hole excitation is subsequently filled by a single boson, which, together with one of the flux quanta, forms a composite fermion. Using our protocol, filling 1/2 Laughlin states can be grown with particle number N increasing linearly in time and strongly suppressed number fluctuations. To demonstrate the feasibility of our scheme, we consider two-dimensional lattices subject to effective magnetic fields and strong on-site interactions. We present numerical simulations of small lattice systems and also discuss the influence of losses.

arXiv:1406.2530•Physical Review Letters•Oct 7, 2014•46 citations
Topological field theories emerge at low energy in strongly correlated condensed matter systems and appear in the context of planar gravity.In particular, the study of Chern-Simons terms gives rise to the concept of flux attachment when the gauge field is coupled to matter, yielding flux-charge composites.We investigate the generation of flux attachment in a Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of nonlinear synthetic gauge potentials.In doing so, we identify the U (1) Chern-Simons gauge field as a singular density-dependent gauge potential, which in turn can be expressed as a Berry connection.We envisage a proof-of-concept scheme where the artificial gauge field is perturbatively induced by an effective light-matter detuning created by interparticle interactions.At a mean field level, we recover the action of a "charged" superfluid minimally coupled to both a background and a Chern-Simons gauge field.Remarkably, a localized density perturbation in combination with a nonlinear gauge potential gives rise to an effective composite boson model of fractional quantum Hall effect, displaying anyonic vortices.
In many-body quantum systems the collective behavior of electrons can give rise to emergent phenomena that are not apparent from the underlying microscopic Hamiltonian. A particularly intriguing possibility is that the internal dynamics of a material can spontaneously generate a gauge potential A_mu^eff that couples to the electronic degrees of freedom in a manner formally identical to a conventional electromagnetic gauge field. This paper develops a theoretical framework for such self-generated gauge fields (SGGF) in quantum matter. Starting from a generic Hubbard-type model with long-range interactions, we derive an effective action for the fermions after integrating out high-energy modes. The resulting low-energy theory contains a covariant derivative D_mu = partial_mu - i A_mu^eff, where A_mu^eff emerges from the collective spin and charge fluctuations. We analyze the symmetry properties of the emergent field, show that it can acquire a mass gap or remain gapless depending on the underlying lattice geometry and interaction strength, and discuss the conditions under which it leads to novel topological responses. In particular, we identify a mechanism by which a chiral spin liquid state induces a Chern–Simons term for A_mu^eff, thereby realizing a fractional quantum Hall response without external magnetic fields. The possibility of realizing SGGF in cold atom simulators and in twisted bilayer graphene is highlighted. We conclude that the discovery of self-generated gauge fields opens a new avenue for engineering artificial fundamental interactions in solid-state platforms and for probing the interplay between topology and strong correlations.
Artificial magnetic fields and spin-orbit couplings have been recently generated in ultracold gases in view of realizing topological states of matter and frustrated magnetism in a highly-controllable environment. Despite being dynamically tunable, such artificial gauge fields are genuinely classical and exhibit no back-action from the neutral particles. Here we go beyond this paradigm, and demonstrate how quantized dynamical gauge fields can be created in mixtures of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. Specifically, we propose a protocol by which atoms of one species carry a magnetic flux felt by another species, hence realizing an instance of flux-attachment. This is obtained by combining coherent lattice modulation techniques with strong Hubbard interactions. We demonstrate how this setting can be arranged so as to implement lattice models displaying a local Z2 gauge symmetry, both in one and two dimensions. We also provide a detailed analysis of a ladder toy model, which features a global Z2 symmetry, and reveal the phase transitions that occur both in the matter and gauge sectors. Mastering flux-attachment in optical lattices envisages a new route towards the realization of strongly-correlated systems with properties dictated by an interplay of dynamical matter and gauge fields.
The identity of quantum matter can be effectively altered by means of gauge fields. In two spatial dimensions this is illustrated by the Chern-Simons flux-attachment mechanism, but such a mechanism is not possible in lower dimensions. Here, we study a one-dimensional interacting Bose gas in the presence of a gauge field. This model can be explicitly mapped into an interacting anyonic system by a large gauge transformation, indicating a statistical transmutation analogous to that of Chern-Simons. The Bogoliubov spectrum in the weakly-interacting limit reveals the presence of a roton minimum arising from the statistical interaction. At a mean-field level chiral solitons are recovered. Should these be understood as quantum bound states, it is natural to interpret them as corresponding to localised anyonic quasiparticles. Hydrodynamic arguments highlight the presence of dispersive chiral shock waves in the propagation of a wavepacket due to a Riemann-Hopf nonlinearity. Numerical calculations show the presence of both chiral soliton trains and shock waves.
We unveil a duality that extends the notions of both flux attachment and statistical transmutation in spacetime dimensions beyond (2+12+12+1)D. Thus, a quantum system in arbitrary dimensions can experience a modification of its statistical properties if coupled to a certain gauge field. For instance, a bosonic quantum fluid can feature composite fermionic (or anyonic) excitations when coupled to a statistical gauge field. We compute the explicit form of the aforementioned synthetic gauge fields in $\text{D}\ensuremath{\le}3+1$. We introduce a bosonic liquid and its composite dual in (1+11+11+1)D as proof of principle. We recover well-known results, resolve old controversies, and suggest a microscopic mechanism for the emergence of such a gauge field. We also outline potential directions for experimental realizations in ultracold atom platforms.
Phonons in a Bose-Einstein condensate can be made to behave as if they propagate in curved spacetime by controlling the condensate flow speed. Seemingly disconnected to this, artificial gauge potentials can be induced in charge neutral atomic condensates by for instance coupling two atomic levels to a laser field. Here we connect these two worlds and show that synthetic interacting gauge fields, i.e., density-dependent gauge potentials, induce a non-trivial spacetime structure for the phonons. This allows for the creation of new spacetime geometries which depend not on the flow speed of the condensate but on an easily controlled transverse laser phase. Using this, we show how to create artificial black holes in a stationary condensate, we simulate charge in a Reissner-Nordström black hole and induce cosmological horizons by creating de Sitter spacetimes. We then show how to combine this de Sitter spacetime with a black hole, which also opens up the possibility to study in experiments its quantum stability.
We suggest a scheme for the preparation of highly correlated Laughlin states in the presence of synthetic gauge fields, realizing an analogue of the fractional quantum Hall effect in photonic or atomic systems of interacting bosons. It is based on the idea of growing such states by adding weakly interacting composite fermions along with magnetic flux quanta one by one. The topologically protected Thouless pump ("Laughlin's argument") is used to create two localized flux quanta and the resulting hole excitation is subsequently filled by a single boson, which, together with one of the flux quanta, forms a composite fermion. Using our protocol, filling 1/2 Laughlin states can be grown with particle number N increasing linearly in time and strongly suppressed number fluctuations. To demonstrate the feasibility of our scheme, we consider two-dimensional lattices subject to effective magnetic fields and strong on-site interactions. We present numerical simulations of small lattice systems and also discuss the influence of losses.