A quantum system's energy landscape may have points where multiple energy surfaces are degenerate and that exhibit singular geometry of the wave function manifold, with major consequences for the system's properties. Ultracold atoms in optical lattices have been used to indirectly characterize such points in the band structure. We measured the non-Abelian transformation produced by transport directly through the singularities. We accelerated atoms along a quasi-momentum trajectory that enters, turns, and then exits the singularities at linear and quadratic band-touching points of a honeycomb lattice. Measurements after transport identified the topological winding numbers of these singularities to be 1 and 2, respectively. Our work introduces a distinct method for probing singularities that enables the study of non-Dirac singularities in ultracold-atom quantum simulators.
A quantum system's energy landscape may have points where multiple energy surfaces are degenerate and that exhibit singular geometry of the wave function manifold, with major consequences for the system's properties. Ultracold atoms in optical lattices have been used to indirectly characterize such points in the band structure. We measured the non-Abelian transformation produced by transport directly through the singularities. We accelerated atoms along a quasi-momentum trajectory that enters, turns, and then exits the singularities at linear and quadratic band-touching points of a honeycomb lattice. Measurements after transport identified the topological winding numbers of these singularities to be 1 and 2, respectively. Our work introduces a distinct method for probing singularities that enables the study of non-Dirac singularities in ultracold-atom quantum simulators.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices have recently emerged as promising candidates for investigating the geometric and topological aspects of band structures. In this thesis, we exploit the high degree of control available in these systems to directly probe the band geometry of an optical honeycomb lattice. In the first series of experiments, we realize an atomic interferometer in quasimomentum space to measure the singular Berry flux associated with a Dirac point. This technique enables us to determine the distribution of Berry curvature in the Brillouin zone with high quasimomentum resolution. Next, we realize strong-force dynamics that are described by matrix-valued Wilson lines, which are generalizations of the Berry phase to degenerate systems. In this strong-force regime, we show that the evolution in the band populations directly reveals the band geometry. This method enables the reconstruction of both the cell-periodic Bloch states at every quasimomentum and the eigenvalues of Wilson-Zak loops. Our techniques can be used to determine the topological invariants, such as the Chern and Z2 numbers, that characterize the band structure. Lastly, having established our ability to detect the band geometry, we present preliminary experiments on engineering band structures.
When two or more energy bands become degenerate at a singular point in the momentum space, such singularity, or ``Dirac points", gives rise to intriguing quantum phenomena as well as unusual material properties. Systems at the Dirac points can possess topological charges and their unique properties can be probed by various methods, such as transport measurement, interferometry and momentum spectroscopy. While the topology of Dirac point in the momentum space is well studied theoretically, observation of topological defects in a many-body quantum systems at Dirac point remain an elusive goal. Based on atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in a graphene-like optical honeycomb lattice, we directly observe emergence of quantized vortices at the Dirac point. The phase diagram of lattice bosons at the Dirac point is revealed. Our work provides a new way of generating vortices in a quantum gas, and the method is generic and can be applied to different types of optical lattices with topological singularity, especially twisted bilayer optical lattices.
Ultracold gases in optical lattices have proved to be a flexible tool to simulate many different phenomena of solid state physics [1, 2]. Recently, optical lattices with complex geometries have been realized [3, 4, 5, 6, 7], paving the way to simulating more realistic systems. The honeycomb structure has recently become accessible in an optical lattice composed of mutually perpendicular laser beams. This lattice structure exhibits topological features in its band structure – the Dirac points. At these points, two energy bands intersect linearly and the particles behave as relativistic Dirac fermions. In optical lattices, Bloch oscillations [8] resolved both in time and in quasi-momentum space can be directly observed. We make use of such Bloch-Zener oscillations to probe the vanishing energy gap at the Dirac points as well as their position in the band structure. In small band gap regions, we observe Landau-Zener tunneling [7, 9] to the second band and the regions of maximum transfer can be identified with the position of the Dirac points.
The geometry of Bloch bands affects many physical properties of crystalline solids and other spatially periodic systems. Direct experimental determination of such geometry is an active area of research. In this work, we focus on the fundamental connection between optical excitations and the relative geometry of pairs of Bloch bands, as characterized by the interband Berry connection. We simulate the response of electrons in solids to optical excitation by the response of ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices to periodic modulation of the lattice position. The strength of resonant excitation between bands, measured at each quasimomentum and for various lattice-shaking polarizations, directly maps out the interband Berry connection. We apply this method to the optical honeycomb lattice, driving excitations between the ground n=1 band and the excited n′={2,3,4} bands. We observe transparency lines of quasimomenta at which the response to excitation of specific polarization is zero. Further, the interband Berry connection between bands 1 and 3 shows irreducible Dirac strings connecting the K and K′ points in the Brillouin zone, lines along which the interband Berry connection abruptly changes orientation. Our work establishes optical response as a powerful tool for characterizing geometrical and topological properties of band structure.
Quantum simulation using ultracold fermions in optical lattices provides valuable insights for strongly correlated many-body phenomena in regimes challenging for classical simulations. In this dissertation, we report the design and construction of an apparatus capable of producing quantum degenerate Bose and Fermi gases. The atoms are then loaded into hexagonal optical superlattices created using two commensurate wavelengths. The apparatus lays the foundation for studying interacting fermions in geometrically frustrated lattices.We also report our experimental results on the characterization of the quantum geometry of Bloch band structures. Using rubidium Bose-Einstein condensates in the honeycomb lattice, we were able to measure the quantum distance around band touching points using parallel transport. Additionally, by simulating optical excitations using noninteracting fermions in a periodically modulated lattice, we observe quasimomentum-dependent optical selection rules, which stem from interband quantum geometry of the honeycomb lattice.
Dirac points lie at the heart of many fascinating phenomena in condensed matter physics, from massless electrons in graphene to the emergence of conducting edge states in topological insulators. At a Dirac point, two energy bands intersect linearly and the particles behave as relativistic Dirac fermions. In solids, the rigid structure of the material sets the mass and velocity of the particles, as well as their interactions. A different, highly flexible approach is to create model systems using fermionic atoms trapped in an optical lattice, a method which so far has only been applied to explore simple lattice structures. In my talk I will report on the creation of Dirac points with adjustable properties in a tunable honeycomb optical lattice [1]. Using momentum-resolved interband transitions, we observe a minimum band gap inside the Brillouin zone at the position of the Dirac points. We exploit the unique tunability of our lattice potential to adjust the effective mass of the Dirac fermions by breaking the inversion symmetry of the lattice. Moreover, changing the lattice anisotropy allows us to move the position of the Dirac points inside the Brillouin zone. When increasing the anisotropy beyond a critical limit, the two Dirac points merge and annihilate each other. We map out this topological transition in lattice parameter space and find excellent agreement with ab initio calculations. Our results not only pave the way to model materials where the topology of the band structure plays a crucial role, but also provide the possibility to explore many-body phases resulting from the interplay of complex lattice geometries with interactions.