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arXiv:2311.09303 · Physical Review A

Chirality-induced emergent spin-orbit coupling in topological atomic lattices

Jonah S. Peter, Stefan Ostermann, Susanne F. Yelin

Published Apr 23, 2024• 10 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Spin-orbit coupling is of fundamental interest in both quantum optical and condensed matter systems alike. In this work, we show that optically induced electronic excitations in lattices of V-type atoms exhibit an emergent spin-orbit coupling when the geometry is chiral. This spin-orbit coupling arises naturally from the electric dipole interaction between the atomic sites and leads to a nontrivial topology for the lattice band structure. Using a general quantum optical model, we determine analytically the conditions that give rise to spin-orbit coupling and characterize the behavior under various symmetry transformations. We demonstrate that chirality-induced spin-orbit coupling can result from either the chirality of the underlying lattice geometry or the combination of an achiral lattice with a suitably chosen external quantization axis. We then discuss how these results are influenced by dissipation, which breaks time-reversal symmetry and illuminates the distinction between true and false chirality. Our results demonstrate that chiral atom arrays are a robust platform for realizing spin-orbit-coupled topological states of matter.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.109.043525

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Chiral magnetism is a fascinating quantum phenomena that has been found in low-dimensional magnetic materials. It is not only interesting for understanding the concept of chirality, but also important for potential applications in spintronics. Past studies show that chiral magnets require both a lack of inversion symmetry and spin-orbit coupling to induce the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Here we report that the combination of inversion symmetry breaking and quantum degeneracy of orbital degrees of freedom will provide a new paradigm to achieve chiral orbital magnetism. By means of density matrix renormalization group calculation, we demonstrate that chiral orbital magnetism can be found when considering bosonic atoms loaded in the p band of an optical lattice in the Mott regime. The high tunability of our scheme is also illustrated through simply manipulating the inversion symmetry of the system for cold atom experimental conditions.
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This thesis proposes conceptually new ways to realize materials with topological properties by using dipole-dipole interactions. First, we study a system of ultracold dipolar fermions, where the relaxation mechanism of dipolar spins can be used to reach the quantum Hall regime. Second, in a system of polar molecules in an optical lattice, dipole-dipole interactions induce spin-orbit coupling terms for the rotational excitations. In combination with time-reversal symmetry breaking this leads to topological bands with Chern numbers greater than one.
Chirality, or handedness, is a geometrical property denoting a lack of mirror symmetry. Chirality is ubiquitous in nature and is associated with the nonreciprocal interactions observed in complex systems ranging from biomolecules to topological materials. Here, we demonstrate that chiral arrangements of dipole-coupled atoms or molecules can facilitate the helicity-dependent superradiant emission of light. We show that the collective modes of these systems experience an emergent spin-orbit coupling that leads to chirality-dependent photon transport and nontrivial topological properties. These phenomena are fully described within the electric dipole approximation, resulting in very strong optical responses. Our results demonstrate an intimate connection between chirality, superradiance, and photon helicity and provide a comprehensive framework for studying electron transport dynamics in chiral molecules using cold atom quantum simulators. Published by the American Physical Society 2024