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Generating gauge fields in optical Kagome and dice lattices

T.J.G. Verboven

Published Jan 1, 2016• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Flat energy bands are suitable for observing the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect. We propose an optical setup that can be used for probing flat bands of the Kagome and dice lattice structures dressed by a gauge field. For the Kagome lattice we show that these bands are indeed topologically nontrivial. We suggest using an optical potential that generates the Kagome and dice structures simultaneously. We propose a lattice shaking-scheme to induce a gauge field that is equivalent to a magnetic field, resulting in the desired energy spectrum. Combining the shaking with resonant driving and a site-dependent phase shift, we present a construction for the Kagome lattice that generates flat bands that can be probed experimentally. Implementing interactions in this setup immediately corresponds to being in the strongly correlated regime.

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The realization of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states in cold atomic gases is a long-standing goal in quantum simulation. Established approaches, including rapidly rotating gases and tight-binding lattices, are often hampered by low interaction energies and small many-body energy gaps. While optical flux lattices (OFLs) can achieve higher effective magnetic flux densities, standard two-state configurations generate highly non-uniform fields, and extensions to multi-state systems introduce significant experimental complexity. Here, we present a new paradigm for engineering robust FQH phases in OFLs using only two internal atomic states. We show that the introduction of an additional scalar potential provides a generic mechanism for creating Chern bands that are simultaneously essentially flat and "ideal". These desirable properties arise by tuning lattice parameters to certain $N$-flat manifolds $(N=1,2,\dots)$, where the $1$-flat manifold shares its origin with certain "magic-angle" conditions familiar from moiré materials. A central result is the design of a dark-state OFL whose adiabatic Hamiltonian is exactly of Aharonov-Casher (AC) form. This exact AC equivalence guarantees perfectly flat, exactly vortexable Chern bands in the adiabatic limit. This method allows for precise tuning of band flatness and stabilizes both Abelian and non-Abelian FQH phases. Our scheme is compatible with existing experimental capabilities using vector polarizability, opening practical routes to exploring strongly correlated topological physics with cold atoms.

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Flat energy bands are suitable for observing the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect. We propose an optical setup that can be used for probing flat bands of the Kagome and dice lattice structures dressed by a gauge field. For the Kagome lattice we show that these bands are indeed topologically nontrivial. We suggest using an optical potential that generates the Kagome and dice structures simultaneously. We propose a lattice shaking-scheme to induce a gauge field that is equivalent to a magnetic field, resulting in the desired energy spectrum. Combining the shaking with resonant driving and a site-dependent phase shift, we present a construction for the Kagome lattice that generates flat bands that can be probed experimentally. Implementing interactions in this setup immediately corresponds to being in the strongly correlated regime.
We propose a general strategy for generating synthetic magnetic fields in complex lattices with non-trivial connectivity based on light–matter coupling in cold atomic gases. Our approach starts from an underlying optical flux lattice in which a synthetic magnetic field is generated by coupling several internal states. Starting from a high-symmetry optical flux lattice, we superpose a scalar potential with a super- or sublattice period in order to eliminate links between the original lattice sites. As an alternative to changing connectivity, the approach can also be used to create or remove lattice sites from the underlying parent lattice. To demonstrate our concept, we consider the dice lattice geometry as an explicit example, and construct a dice lattice with a flux density of half a flux quantum per plaquette, providing a pathway to flat bands with a large band gap. While the intuition for our proposal stems from the analysis of deep optical lattices, we demonstrate that the approach is robust even for shallow optical flux lattices far from the tight-binding limit. We also provide an alternative experimental proposal to realise a synthetic gauge field in a fully frustrated dice lattice based on laser-induced hoppings along individual bonds of the lattice, again involving a superlattice potential. In this approach, atoms with a long-lived excited state are trapped using an 'anti-magic' wavelength of light, allowing the desired complex hopping elements to be induced in a specific laser coupling scheme for the dice lattice geometry. We conclude by comparing the complexity of these alternative approaches, and advocate that complex optical flux lattices provide the more elegant and easily generalisable strategy.
Time-periodic driving like lattice shaking offers a low-demanding method to generate artificial gauge fields in optical lattices. We identify the relevant symmetries that have to be broken by the driving function for that purpose and demonstrate the power of this method by making concrete proposals for its application to two-dimensional lattice systems: We show how to tune frustration and how to create and control band touching points like Dirac cones in the shaken kagome lattice. We propose the realization of a topological and a quantum spin Hall insulator in a shaken spin-dependent hexagonal lattice. We describe how strong artificial magnetic fields can be achieved for example in a square lattice by employing superlattice modulation. Finally, exemplified on a shaken spin-dependent square lattice, we develop a method to create strong non-abelian gauge fields.
In flat bands, the kinetic energy is fully quenched rendering interactions nonperturbative and resulting in complex many-body phenomena, such as the (fractional) quantum Hall effect. Here, the authors study the interplay of correlated disorder, topology, and interactions on the kagome lattice, which hosts a flat band with a quadratic-band touching point and Dirac cones. The authors find exact solutions and demonstrate how to introduce spectral gaps, thus establishing a prime platform to study topological and correlated flat-band physics.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices serve as a tool to model different physical phenomena appearing originally in condensed matter. To study magnetic phenomena one needs to engineer synthetic fields as atoms are neutral. Appropriately shaped optical potentials force atoms to mimic charged particles moving in a given field. We present the realization of artificial gauge fields for the observation of anomalous Hall effect. Two species of attractively interacting ultracold fermions are considered to be trapped in a shaken two dimensional triangular lattice. A combination of interaction induced tunneling and shaking can result in an emergent Dice lattice. In such a lattice the staggered synthetic magnetic flux appears and it can be controlled with external parameters. The obtained synthetic fields are non-Abelian. Depending on the tuning of the staggered flux we can obtain either anomalous Hall effect or its quantized version. Our results are reminiscent of Anomalous Hall conductivity in spin-orbit coupled ferromagnets.
The realization of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states in cold atomic gases is a long-standing goal in quantum simulation. Established approaches, including rapidly rotating gases and tight-binding lattices, are often hampered by low interaction energies and small many-body energy gaps. While optical flux lattices (OFLs) can achieve higher effective magnetic flux densities, standard two-state configurations generate highly non-uniform fields, and extensions to multi-state systems introduce significant experimental complexity. Here, we present a new paradigm for engineering robust FQH phases in OFLs using only two internal atomic states. We show that the introduction of an additional scalar potential provides a generic mechanism for creating Chern bands that are simultaneously essentially flat and ideal.'' These desirable properties arise by tuning lattice parameters to certain NNN-flat manifolds (N=1,2,… )(N=1,2,\dots)(N=1,2,…), where the 111-flat manifold shares its origin with certainmagic-angle’’ conditions familiar from moiré materials. A central result is the design of a dark-state OFL whose adiabatic Hamiltonian is exactly of Aharonov-Casher (AC) form. This exact AC equivalence guarantees perfectly flat, exactly ideal Chern bands in the adiabatic limit. This method allows for precise tuning of band flatness and stabilizes both Abelian and non-Abelian FQH phases. Our scheme is compatible with existing experimental capabilities using vector polarizability, opening practical routes to exploring strongly correlated topological physics with cold atoms.
The realization of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states in cold atomic gases is a long-standing goal in quantum simulation. Established approaches, including rapidly rotating gases and tight-binding lattices, are often hampered by low interaction energies and small many-body energy gaps. While optical flux lattices (OFLs) can achieve higher effective magnetic flux densities, standard two-state configurations generate highly non-uniform fields, and extensions to multi-state systems introduce significant experimental complexity. Here, we present a new paradigm for engineering robust FQH phases in OFLs using only two internal atomic states. We show that the introduction of an additional scalar potential provides a generic mechanism for creating Chern bands that are simultaneously essentially flat and "ideal". These desirable properties arise by tuning lattice parameters to certain NNN-flat manifolds (N=1,2,… )(N=1,2,\dots)(N=1,2,…), where the 111-flat manifold shares its origin with certain "magic-angle" conditions familiar from moiré materials. A central result is the design of a dark-state OFL whose adiabatic Hamiltonian is exactly of Aharonov-Casher (AC) form. This exact AC equivalence guarantees perfectly flat, exactly vortexable Chern bands in the adiabatic limit. This method allows for precise tuning of band flatness and stabilizes both Abelian and non-Abelian FQH phases. Our scheme is compatible with existing experimental capabilities using vector polarizability, opening practical routes to exploring strongly correlated topological physics with cold atoms.