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arXiv:2104.13394 · Communications Physics

Strain and pseudo-magnetic fields in optical lattices from density-assisted tunneling

Maxime Jamotte, Nathan Goldman, Marco Fedele Di Liberto

Published Jan 27, 2022• 20 citations

Abstract

Abstract Applying time-periodic modulations is routinely used to control and design synthetic matter in quantum-engineered settings. In lattice systems, this approach is explored to engineer band structures with non-trivial topological properties, but also to generate exotic interaction processes. A prime example is density-assisted tunneling, by which the hopping amplitude of a particle between neighboring sites explicitly depends on their respective occupations. Here, we show how density-assisted tunneling can be tailored in view of simulating the effects of strain in synthetic graphene-type systems. Specifically, we consider a mixture of two atomic species on a honeycomb optical lattice: one species forms a Bose-Einstein condensate in an anisotropic harmonic trap, whose inhomogeneous density profile induces an effective uniaxial strain for the second species through density-assisted tunneling processes. In direct analogy with strained graphene, the second species experiences a pseudo-magnetic field, hence exhibiting relativistic Landau levels and the valley Hall effect. Our proposed scheme introduces a unique platform for the investigation of strain-induced gauge fields, opening the door to future studies of their possible interplay with quantum fluctuations and collective excitations.

DOI: 10.1038/s42005-022-00802-9

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We propose an experimental scheme to realize the valley-dependent gauge fields for ultracold fermionic atoms trapped in a state-dependent square optical lattice. Our scheme relies on two sets of Raman laser beams to engineer the hopping between adjacent sites populated by two-component fermionic atoms. One set of Raman beams is used to realize a staggered $\ensuremath{\pi}$-flux lattice, where low-energy atoms near two inequivalent Dirac points should be described by the Dirac equation for spin-

\frac{1}{2}

particles. Another set of laser beams with proper Rabi frequencies is added to further modulate the atomic hopping parameters. The hopping modulation will give rise to effective gauge potentials with opposite signs near the two valleys, mimicking the interesting strain-induced pseudogauge fields in graphene. The proposed valley-dependent gauge fields are tunable and provide an alternative route to realize an uncommon type of quantum Hall effects and atomic devices.

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We study strongly correlated ground states of dipolar fermions in a honeycomb optical lattice with spatial variations in hopping amplitudes. Similar to strained graphene, such nonuniform hopping amplitudes produce valley-dependent pseudomagnetic fields for fermions near the two Dirac points, resulting in the formation of Landau levels. The dipole moments aligned perpendicular to the honeycomb plane yield a long-range repulsive interaction. By exact diagonalization in the zeroth-Landau-level basis, we show that this repulsive interaction stabilizes a variety of valley-polarized fractional quantum Hall states such as Laughlin and composite-fermion states. The present system thus offers an intriguing platform for emulating fractional quantum Hall physics in a static optical lattice. We calculate the energy gaps above these incompressible states and discuss the temperature scales required for their experimental realization.

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