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Physical Review A

Ultracold-molecule higher-order topological phases induced by long-range dipolar interactions in optical-tweezer lattices

Jinzhu Jiang, Zhonghua Ji, Feng Mei, Jie Ma, Liantuan Xiao, Suotang Jia

Published Jul 11, 2024• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Ultracold atomic and molecular systems in the past years have significantly advanced the exploration of topological phases of matter. Notably, the recent experimental progress achieved in ultracold molecules, particularly within optical-tweezer lattices and leveraging long-range dipolar interactions, has opened up new avenues for this prospect. Here, we propose the creation of an ultracold-molecule trimerized Kagome optical-tweezer lattice to examine the topological phases induced by long-range dipolar interactions. Through a comparison of topological features in scenarios with and without long-range couplings, we find that the long-range interactions can induce higher-order topological phases with diverse topological corner modes at each corner, a phenomenon that can even emerge in nonstandard trimerized Kagome lattices. Furthermore, we develop a dynamic method to spectrally and spatially detect these topological corner modes. Our research not only underscores that long-range interactions can engender much richer topological phases but also suggests exciting possibilities for designing reconfigurable topological lattices.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.110.013309

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Ultracold atomic and molecular systems in the past years have significantly advanced the exploration of topological phases of matter. Notably, the recent experimental progress achieved in ultracold molecules, particularly within optical-tweezer lattices and leveraging long-range dipolar interactions, has opened up new avenues for this prospect. Here, we propose the creation of an ultracold-molecule trimerized Kagome optical-tweezer lattice to examine the topological phases induced by long-range dipolar interactions. Through a comparison of topological features in scenarios with and without long-range couplings, we find that the long-range interactions can induce higher-order topological phases with diverse topological corner modes at each corner, a phenomenon that can even emerge in nonstandard trimerized Kagome lattices. Furthermore, we develop a dynamic method to spectrally and spatially detect these topological corner modes. Our research not only underscores that long-range interactions can engender much richer topological phases but also suggests exciting possibilities for designing reconfigurable topological lattices.
The recent experimental realization of optical tweezer arrays of ultracold molecules provides a versatile platform for exploring molecular phases of matter. Here we show that by programming tweezers, the dipolar interactions in an optical tweezer ladder could be tailored to implement a generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Through calculating topological invariants, nonlocal string-order parameters, many-particle ground-state degeneracy, and entanglement spectrum, we demonstrate that this ladder at the single-particle level supports two different chiral topological phases and at the many-particle level features two different interacting topological phases and, respectively, possesses much richer topological edge states. We also discuss the detection of these topological phases and their robustness to systematic imperfections. Further generalization to a high dimension could offer opportunities for preparing diverse ultracold molecular topological phases.
Owing to rapid recent progress, ultracold atomic lattice systems for simulating topological phases are now at a pivotal stage, evolving from established paradigms into increasingly versatile and programmable quantum simulators. In this review, we survey recent experimental advances across four major classes of platforms: optical lattices, including optical lattices with laser-assisted tunneling and optical Raman lattices; synthetic lattices in momentum or internal-state space; Floquet-engineered lattices; and optical tweezer arrays, all of which offer distinct capabilities for realizing and probing topological matter. For each class, we highlight representative experimental breakthroughs, the topological models that have been realized, and the advanced detection and characterization techniques employed, emphasizing how these complementary approaches collectively expand the frontier of quantum simulation. We also discuss emerging directions in strongly correlated and nonequilibrium topological phases, and conclude with an outlook on future prospects.
The mutual feedback between quantum condensed matter and cold atom physics has been quite fruitful throughout history and continues to inspire ongoing research. Motivated by the recent activities on the quantum simulation of topological orders among the ultracold Rydberg atom arrays, we consider the possibility of searching for topological orders among the dipolar quantum magnets and polar molecules with a kagome lattice geometry. Together with other quantum interactions such as the transverse field, the dipolar interaction endows the kagome system with a similar structure as the Balents-Fisher-Girvin model and thus fosters the emergence of the \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 topological orders. We construct a \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 lattice gauge theory to access the topological ordered phase and describe the spinon and vison excitations for the \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 topological orders. We explain the spectroscopic consequences for various quantum phases as well as the experimental detection. We further discuss the rare-earth kagome magnets, ultracold polar molecules, and cluster Mott insulators for the physical realization.
Abstract Topological phases of matter can appear in noninteracting systems, as in band topology, or interacting systems, such as in spin models, with their defining features typically robust against weak disorder. Intriguingly, disorder itself can also induce topological phases--exemplified by the Anderson topological insulator in noninteracting systems. Experimental studies on disorder-induced topology have so far been limited to band topology. Here we report direct observations of disorder-induced many-body interacting average topological order in an atom array at half-filling, whereby random offsets to tweezer locations forming a lattice implement structural disorder, causing fluctuating long-range dipolar interactions between tweezer confined single atoms. The ground state degeneracy in disordered configurations is detected and compared to the regular lattice. The induced topological phase is vindicated by the spatially resolved atom-atom correlation functions for different forms of dimer compositions. By probing the quench dynamics of a highly excited state, we observe markedly slower decay of edge spin magnetization in comparison to the bulk spin, consistent with the presence of topologically protected edge modes in disordered lattices. Our experiments open a new direction for studying the interplay between disorder and strongly interacting topological matter in Rydberg atom arrays.
Simulating higher-order topological materials in synthetic quantum matter is an active research frontier for its theoretical significance in fundamental physics and promising applications in quantum technologies. Here we experimentally implement two-dimensional (2D) momentum lattices with highly programmable ability using ultracold 87Rb atoms. Through precise control of experimental parameters, we simulate a 2D Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with this technique, and observe the characteristic dynamics of corner and edge-bound states, where the corner state is identified as a higher-order topological bound state in the continuum. We further study the adiabatic preparation of the corner state by engineering evolutions with time-dependent Hamiltonians. We also demonstrate the higher-order topological phase transition by measuring both the bulk topological invariant and the topological corner state. Our new platform opens the avenue for exploring the exotic dynamics and topology in higher synthetic dimensions, making use of the rich degrees of freedom of cold atoms systems.
Simulating higher-order topological materials in synthetic quantum matter is an active research frontier for its theoretical significance in fundamental physics and promising applications in quantum technologies. Here we experimentally implement two-dimensional (2D) momentum lattices with highly programmable ability using ultracold 87Rb atoms. Through precise control of experimental parameters, we simulate a 2D Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with this technique, and observe the characteristic dynamics of corner and edge-bound states, where the corner state is identified as a higher-order topological bound state in the continuum. We further study the adiabatic preparation of the corner state by engineering evolutions with time-dependent Hamiltonians. We also demonstrate the higher-order topological phase transition by measuring both the bulk topological invariant and the topological corner state. Our new platform opens the avenue for exploring the exotic dynamics and topology in higher synthetic dimensions, making use of the rich degrees of freedom of cold atoms systems.