Ultracold atomic systems have provided an ideal platform to study the physics of strongly interacting many body systems in an unprecedentedly controlled and clean environment. And, since fermions are the building blocks of visible matter, being naturally motivated we focus on the physics of ultracold fermionic systems in this thesis. There have been many recent experimental developments in these systems such as the creation of synthetic gauge fields, realization of dimensional crossover and realization of systems with synthetic dimensions. These developments pose many open theoretical questions, some of which we address in this thesis.
We start the discussion by studying the spectral function of an ideal spin-12 Fermi gas in a harmonic trap in any dimensions. We discuss the performance of the local density approximation (LDA) in calculating the spectral function of the system by comparing it to exact numerical results. We show that the LDA gives better results for larger number of particles and in higher dimensions.
Fermionic systems with quasi two dimensional geometry are of great importance because of their connections to the high-Tc superconducting cuprate materials. Keeping this in mind, we consider a spin-12 fermionic system in three dimensions interacting with a contact interaction and confined by a one dimensional optical potential in one direction. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism, we show that with increasing the depth of the optical potential the three dimensional superfluid evolves into a two dimensional one by looking at the shifts in the radio-frequency spectrum of the system and the change in the binding energy
of the pairs that are formed.
The next topic of interest is studying the effect of synthetic gauge fields on the ultracold fermionic systems. We show that a synthetic non-Abelian Rashba type gauge field has experimentally observable signatures on the size and shape of a cloud of a system of non-interacting spin-12 Fermi system in a harmonic trap. Also, the synthetic gauge field in conjunction with the harmonic potential gives rise to ample possibilities of generating novel quantum Hamiltonians like the spherical geometry quantum Hall, magnetic monopoles etc.
We then address the physics of fermions in “synthetic dimensions”. The hyperfine states of atoms loaded in a one dimensional optical lattice can be used as an extra dimension, called the synthetic dimension (SD), by using Raman coupling. This way a finite strip Hofstadter model is realized with a tunable flux per plaquette. The experimental realization of the SD system is most naturally possible in systems which also have SU(M) symmetric interactions between the fermions. The SU(M) symmetric interactions manifest as long-ranged along the synthetic dimension and is the root cause of all the novel physics in these systems. This rich physics is revealed by a mapping of the Hamiltonian of the system to a system of particles interacting via an SU(M) symmetric interaction under the influence of an SU(M) Zeeman field and a non-Abelian…
Ultracold atomic systems have provided an ideal platform to study the physics of strongly interacting many body systems in an unprecedentedly controlled and clean environment. And, since fermions are the building blocks of visible matter, being naturally motivated we focus on the physics of ultracold fermionic systems in this thesis. There have been many recent experimental developments in these systems such as the creation of synthetic gauge fields, realization of dimensional crossover and realization of systems with synthetic dimensions. These developments pose many open theoretical questions, some of which we address in this thesis.
We start the discussion by studying the spectral function of an ideal spin-12 Fermi gas in a harmonic trap in any dimensions. We discuss the performance of the local density approximation (LDA) in calculating the spectral function of the system by comparing it to exact numerical results. We show that the LDA gives better results for larger number of particles and in higher dimensions.
Fermionic systems with quasi two dimensional geometry are of great importance because of their connections to the high-Tc superconducting cuprate materials. Keeping this in mind, we consider a spin-12 fermionic system in three dimensions interacting with a contact interaction and confined by a one dimensional optical potential in one direction. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism, we show that with increasing the depth of the optical potential the three dimensional superfluid evolves into a two dimensional one by looking at the shifts in the radio-frequency spectrum of the system and the change in the binding energy
of the pairs that are formed.
The next topic of interest is studying the effect of synthetic gauge fields on the ultracold fermionic systems. We show that a synthetic non-Abelian Rashba type gauge field has experimentally observable signatures on the size and shape of a cloud of a system of non-interacting spin-12 Fermi system in a harmonic trap. Also, the synthetic gauge field in conjunction with the harmonic potential gives rise to ample possibilities of generating novel quantum Hamiltonians like the spherical geometry quantum Hall, magnetic monopoles etc.
We then address the physics of fermions in “synthetic dimensions”. The hyperfine states of atoms loaded in a one dimensional optical lattice can be used as an extra dimension, called the synthetic dimension (SD), by using Raman coupling. This way a finite strip Hofstadter model is realized with a tunable flux per plaquette. The experimental realization of the SD system is most naturally possible in systems which also have SU(M) symmetric interactions between the fermions. The SU(M) symmetric interactions manifest as long-ranged along the synthetic dimension and is the root cause of all the novel physics in these systems. This rich physics is revealed by a mapping of the Hamiltonian of the system to a system of particles interacting via an SU(M) symmetric interaction under the influence of an SU(M) Zeeman field and a non-Abelian…
In the last decade there has been an intense activity aimed at the quantum simulation of interacting many-body systems using cold atoms [1, 2]. The idea of quantum simulations traces back to Feynman [3], who argued that the ideal setting to study quantum systems would be a quantum experimental setup rather then a classical one - the latter one being fundamentally limited due to its hardware classical structure. This is a particularly important problem given the intrinsic complexity of interacting many-body problems, and the difficulties that arise when tackling them with numerical simulations - two paradigmatic examples being the sign(s) problem affecting Monte Carlo simulations of fermionic systems, and the real time dynamics in more than one spatial dimension. Ultracold atoms offer a very powerful setting for quantum simulations. Atoms can be trapped in tailored optical and magnetic potentials, also controlling their dimensionality. The inter-atomic interactions can be tuned by external knobs, such as Feshbach resonances. This gives a large freedom on model building and, with suitable mappings, they allow the implementation of desired target models. This allowed an impressive exploitation of quantum simulators on the context of condensed matter physics. The simulation of high-energy physics is an important line of research in this field and it is less direct. In particular it requires the implementation of symmetries like Lorentz and gauge invariance which are not immediately available in a cold atomic setting. Gauge fields are ubiquitous in physics ranging from condensed matter [4–6] and quantum computation [7, 8] to particle physics [9], an archetypical example being Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) [10,11], the theory of strong nuclear forces. Currently open problems in QCD, providing a long-term goal of cold atomic simulations, include confinement/deconfinement and the structure of color superconducting phases at finite chemical potential [12]. Even though QCD is a very complicated theory (to simulate or study), it is possible to envision a path through implementation of simpler models. Furthermore, it is also expected that interesting physics is found on such “intermediate models” which may deserve attention irrespectively of the QCD study. A very relevant model in this regard is the Schwinger model (Quantum Electrodynamics in 1+1 dimensions) [13]. This theory exhibits features of QCD, such as confinement [14], and is at the very same time amenable to both theoretical studies and simpler experimental schemes. This model was the target of the first experimental realization of a gauge theory with a quantum simulator [15]. The work on this Thesis is, in part, motivated by the study of toy models which put in evidence certain aspects that can be found in QCD. Such toy models provide also intermediate steps in the path towards more complex simulations. The two main aspects of QCD which are addressed here are symmetry-locking and confinement. The other main motivation for this study is to develop a systematic framework, through dimensional mismatch, for theoretical understanding and quantum simulations of long-range theories using gauge theories. The model used to study symmetry-locking consists of a four-fermion mixture [16]. It has the basic ingredients to exhibit a non-Abelian symmetry-locked phase: the full Hamiltonian has an SU (2) × SU (2) (global) symmetry which can break to a smaller SU (2) group. Such phase is found in a extensive region of the phase diagram by using a mean-field approach and a strong coupling expansion. A possible realization of such system is provided by an Ytterbium mixture. Even without tuning interactions, it is shown that such mixture falls inside the the locked-symmetry phase pointing towards a possible realization in current day experiments. The models with dimensional mismatch investigated here have fermions in a lower dimensionality d + 1 and gauge fields in higher dimensionality D + 1. They serve two purposes: establish mappings to non-local theories by integration of fields [17] and the study of confinement [18]. In the particular case of d = 1 and D = 2 it is found that some general non-local terms can be obtained on the Lagrangian [17]. This is found in the form of power-law expansions of the Laplacian mediating either kinetic terms (for bosons) or interactions (for fermions). The fact that such expansions are not completely general is not surprising since constraints do exist, preventing unphysical features like breaking of unitarity. The non-local terms obtained are physically acceptable, in this regard, since they are derived from unitary theories. The above mapping is done exactly. In certain cases it is shown that it is possible to construct an effective long-range Hamiltonian in a perturbative expansion. In particular it is shown how this is done for non-relativistic fermions (in d = 1) and 3 + 1 gauge fields. These results are relevant in the context of state of the art experiments which implement models with long-range interactions and where theoretical results are less abundant than for the case of local theories. The above mappings establish a direct relation with local theories which allow theoretical insight onto these systems. Examples of this would consist on the application of Mermin- Wagner-Hohenberg theorem [19, 20] and Lieb-Robinson bounds [21], on the propagation of quantum correlations, to non-local models. In addition they can also provide a path towards implementation of tunable long-range interactions with cold atoms. Furthermore, in terms of quantum simulations, they are in between the full higher dimensional system and the full lower dimensional one. Such property is attractive from the point of view of a gradual increase of complexity for quantum simulations of gauge theories. Another interesting property of these models is that they allow the study of confinement beyond the simpler case of the Schwinger model. The extra dimensions are enough to attribute dynamics to the gauge field, which are no longer completely fixed by the Gauss law. The phases of the Schwinger model are shown to be robust under variation of the dimension of the gauge fields [18]. Both the screened phase, of the massless case, and the confined phase, of the massive one, are found for gauge fields in 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions. Such results are also obtained in the Schwinger- Thirring model. This shows that these phases are very robust and raises interesting questions about the nature of confinement. Robustness under Thirring interactions are relevant because it shows that errors on the experimental implementation will not spoil the phase. Even more interesting is the case of gauge fields in higher dimensions since confinement in the Schwinger model is intuitively atributed to the dimensionality of the gauge fields (creating linear potentials between particles). This Thesis is organized as follows. In Chapter 1, some essential background regarding quantum simulations of gauge theories is provided. It gives both a brief introduction to cold atomic physics and lattice gauge theories. In Chapter 2, it is presented an overview over proposals of quantum simulators of gauge potentials and gauge fields. At the end of this Chapter, in Section 2.3 it is briefly presented ongoing work on a realization of the Schwinger model that we term Half Link Schwinger model. There, it is argued, some of the generators of the gauge symmetry on the lattice can be neglected without comprimising gauge invariance. In Chapter 3, the results regarding the phase diagram of the fourfermion mixture, exhibiting symmetry-locking, is presented. In Chapter 4, the path towards controlling non-local kinetic terms and interactions is provided, after a general introduction to the formalism of dimensional mismatch. At the end the construction of effective Hamiltonians is described. Finally, Chapter 5 concerns the study of confinement and the robustness of it for 1+1 fermions. The first part regards the Schwinger-Thirring with the presence of a -term while, in the second part, models with dimensional mismatch are considered. The thesis ends with conclusions and perspectives of future work based on the results presented here.
Since the realization of Bose-Einstein condensation in 1995, experimentalists in ultracold atomic gas community have developed a set of entirely new methods to study quantum gases. In ultracold atomic gases, implementation of synthetic gauge fields, the spin-orbit coupling, optical lattices and Feshbach resonances, provides a clean and highly controllable platform to tune the parameters of the system, which are typically fixed for real materials. Motivated by the rapid developments of experimental progresses, I investigate the ultracold atomic gases with synthetic gauge fields. \n \nIn this thesis, a bosonic gas in optical lattices in the presence of an effective staggered magnetic flux will be studied, using a generalized Bose-Hubbard model. Phase transition from the Mott insulating phase to the superfluid phase will be discussed. Novel superfluid phases including the stripe phase and the plane wave phase will be discussed. Furthermore, the existence of a tricritical point in the phase diagram is predicted. \n \nTo study Fermi systems with synthetic gauge fields, a spin-1=2 Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling is investigated by studying the structure of vortex line through the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer to Bose-Einstein condensation (BCSBEC) crossover. Due to the spin-orbit coupling, the s-wave interacting Fermi gas behaves like an effective p-wave paired system. A discussion about the vortex line structure will be provided by calculating the spatial distribution of the gap function, the density, the particle current, and also the elementary excitations. It has been found that the most robust superfluid occurs around the unitary point, indicated by the smallest healing length and the largest critical current. \n \nFinally, motivated by the recent progress of p-wave resonantly Fermi gas in experiment, an extension of Nozières-Schmitt-Rink method to the p-wave case will be given. An investigation of the normal state properties will be given by calculating the equation of state and the p-wave contacts, which have been measured by the experiment. Furthermore, the superfluid transition temperature with realistic parameters appropriate for experiment is calculated and is found to be within experimental reach.
Quantum emulation property of the cold atoms has generated a lot of interest in studying systems with synthetic gauge fields. In this article, we describe the physics of two component Fermi gas in the presence of synthetic non-Abelian SU(2) gauge fields. Even for the non-interacting system with the gauge fields, there is an interesting change in the topology of the Fermi surface by tuning only the gauge field strength. When a trapping potential is used in conjunction with the gauge fields, the non-interacting system has the ability to produce novel Hamiltonians and show characteristic change in the density profile of the cloud. Without trap, the gauge fields act as an attractive interaction amplifier and for special kinds of gauge field configurations, there are two-body bound states for any attraction even in three dimensions. For a many body system, the gauge fields can induce a crossover from a weak superfluid to a strong superfluid with transition temperature as high as the Fermi temperature. The superfluid state obtained for a very large gauge field strength is a superfluid of new kind of bosons, called ``rashbons'', the properties of which are independent of its constituent two component fermions and are solely determined by the gauge field strength. We also discuss the collective excitations over the superfluid ground states and the experimental relevance of the physics.
In this Thesis we will theoretically address some issues concerning the Physics of ultracold Fermi gases, all of them with experimental relevance. The field of ultracold gases, and more recently of ultracold Fermi gases, is gathering a lot of experimental and theoretical interest for two main reasons: the great control on the relevant parameters of the problem and the relative simplicity of the minimal theory which is able to correctly describe the system. Building upon this solid background, ultracold gases provided an ideal laboratory for testing more refined theories and also for addressing fundamental issues of quantum mechanics as well as for simulating more complex physical systems such as those encountered in condensed matter. Even if the effective hamiltonian of ultracold gases can be simple, due to the diluteness of the system and the low temperature, which imply low energy physics, the solution of the quantum mechanic equations governing the state of these systems is not always simple. For the static properties usually mean-field solutions exist or perturbative expansions can be produced in some regimes. However Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques provide more accurate results especially in the strongly interacting regimes. For confined systems it is possible to use QMC only for a few particles, so that, for large number of particles, a fruitful combined use of Density Functional Theory (DFT) and QMC is necessary. The study of the dynamics of ultracold gases has received little attention with QMC techniques, due to the intrinsic computational difficulty of the many-body problem, so that general hydrodynamic equations are often used for studying the propagation of smoothly varying perturbations. In this Thesis we use QMC techniques for studying the problem of ferromagnetism in repulsive or effectively repulsive ultracold gases without a lattice and the problem of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer to Bose-Einstein-Condensation (BCS-BEC) crossover in two dimensions. We use DFT in the Local Density Approximation (LDA) for calculating the density profiles of ultracold Fermi gases in harmonic magneto-optical traps, starting from QMC equations of state. We study the propagation of first and second sound in ultracold Fermi gases in cylindrical geometry, using the hydrodynamic equations of superfluids.
Gauge theories are ubiquitous in physics. Many intriguing phenomena in condensed matter physics owe to the action of the electromagnetic field, which is an Abelian gauge theory. The numerical treatment of many-body systems is inherently complex due to the exponentially growing size of the Hilbert space. While in one dimension an area law guarantees that numerical methods on classical computers can deal with strongly correlated systems, in higher dimensions the quantum simulation comes as the panacea for the many-body problem. The present thesis comprises the elaboration of experimentally feasible methods for the quantum simulation of dynamical Abelian gauge fields with ultra-cold gases of neutral atoms and the theoretical analysis of the related model Hamiltonians. As neutral atoms do not interact with external vector potentials like charged particles would do, the gauge fields have to be artificially engineered. The elements of a gauge theory that need to be replicated on a quantum simulator vary depending on the subject of investigation. The key ingredient at the root of many condensed matter phenomena, from the quantum Hall effect to superconductivity and chiral topological insulators, is the Berry phase. Whilst artificial static gauge fields have been widely explored, much remains to do regarding the realization of artificial dynamical gauge fields. In Chapter 3 we present a method based on the amplitude modulation of a one-dimensional optical lattice, which allows for an unprecedented degree of control over a wide range of parameters. The method also comprises the generation of a density-dependent complex phase, fundamental to the creation of anyonic pseudo-particles. The anyons are amenable of observation through interferometric measurement, realizable with the same experimental set-up. With regard to gauge theories, the Berry phase is just the visible tip of the iceberg. Below the waterline, there is more to consider in order to comprehensively reproduce a gauge theory, like the electric and magnetic fields in quantum electrodynamics. Moreover, a full account for the inherent symmetry is crucial to investigate phenomena proper of non-Abelian gauge theories in the context of high-energy physics, such as confinement. For this collection of topics, one can turn to lattice gauge theories. In Chapter 5, we consider a class of lattice gauge theories particularly suitable for quantum simulation, the Quantum Link Model. The study of the Abelian U(1) Quantum Link Model on a ladder geometry reveals a highly non-trivial phase diagram, featuring a symmetry-protected topological phase. In both Chapters, innovative solutions for the experimental realization of the model Hamiltonians are designed and proposed. To gain numerical access to the ground-state properties and the dynamics of the systems investigated we make use of state-of-the-art numerical methods based on Tensor Networks. The elements of the numerical analysis carried out throughout this thesis are presented in Chapter 6. In the last part we offer an outlook on research perspectives related to the topics discussed in the thesis.
An innovative way to produce quantum Hall ribbons in a cold atomic system is to use M hyperfine states of atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice to mimic an additional ``synthetic dimension.'' A notable aspect here is that the SU(M) symmetric interaction between atoms manifests as ``infinite ranged'' along the synthetic dimension. We study the many-body physics of fermions with SU(M) symmetric attractive interactions in this system using a combination of analytical field theoretic and numerical density-matrix renormalization-group methods. We uncover the rich ground-state phase diagram of the system, including unconventional phases such as squished baryon fluids, shedding light on many-body physics in low dimensions. Remarkably, changing the parameters entails interesting crossovers and transition; e.g., we show that increasing the magnetic field (that produces the Hall effect) converts a ``ferrometallic'' state at low fields to a ``squished baryon superfluid'' (with algebraic pairing correlations) at high fields. We also show that this system provides a unique opportunity to study quantum phase separation in a multiflavor ultracold fermionic system.