Floquet engineering is one of the most vigorous fields in periodically driven (Floquet) systems, with which we can control phases of matter usually by high-frequency drives. In this paper, with Floquet engineering by a combination of high-frequency drives and resonant drives, we propose a way to realize nontrivial topological phases protected by a ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ symmetry only in the presence of a
Z2 symmetry, using a robust emergent
Z2 symmetry induced by the resonant drives. Moreover, the symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases are switchable between nontrivial and trivial phases only by the direction of a static transverse field, and even perturbations on the resonant drive can be utilized to realize richer SPT phases. We also discuss the real-time dynamics of the model, and find that which topological phases the system lies in can be distinguished by a period doubling of a nonlocal order parameter, as with discrete time crystals. A realization or a control of nontrivial SPT phases without the required symmetries by resonant drives, proposed in this paper, would shed a light on the observation of topological phenomena in nonequilibrium setups.
Prethermalization, where quasisteady states are realized in the intermediate long-time regime (prethermal regime), in periodically driven (Floquet) systems is an important phenomenon since it provides a platform for nontrivial Floquet many-body physics. In this Rapid Communication, we consider Floquet systems with dual energy scales: The Hamiltonian consists of two different terms whose amplitude is either comparable to or much smaller than the frequency. As a result, when the larger-amplitude drive induces a
ZN symmetry operation, we obtain the effective static Hamiltonian respecting the emergent
ZN symmetry in high-frequency expansions, which describes the dynamics of such Floquet systems in the prethermal regime. As an application of our formulation, our formalism gives a general way to analyze time crystals in prethermal regimes in terms of the static effective Hamiltonian. We also provide an application to Floquet engineering, with which we can perform the simultaneous control of phases and symmetries of the systems. For example, this enables us to control symmetry protected topological phases even when the original system does not respect the symmetry.
We propose and analyze two distinct routes toward realizing interacting symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases via periodic driving. First, we demonstrate that a driven transverse-field Ising model can be used to engineer complex interactions which enable the emulation of an equilibrium SPT phase. This phase remains stable only within a parametric time scale controlled by the driving frequency, beyond which its topological features break down. To overcome this issue, we consider an alternate route based upon realizing an intrinsically Floquet SPT phase that does not have any equilibrium analog. In both cases, we show that disorder, leading to many-body localization, prevents runaway heating and enables the observation of coherent quantum dynamics at high energy densities. Furthermore, we clarify the distinction between the equilibrium and Floquet SPT phases by identifying a unique micromotion-based entanglement spectrum signature of the latter. Finally, we propose a unifying implementation in a one-dimensional chain of Rydberg-dressed atoms and show that protected edge modes are observable on realistic experimental time scales.