We experimentally realize a spin-momentum lattice with a homogeneously trapped Fermi gas. The lattice is created via cyclically rotated atom-laser couplings between three bare atomic spin states, and are such that they form a triangular lattice in a synthetic spin-momentum space. We demonstrate the lattice and explore its dynamics with spin- and momentum-resolved absorption imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExcitonic insulators host a condensate of electron-hole pairs at equilibrium, giving rise to collective many-body effects. Although several materials have emerged as excitonic insulator candidates, evidence of long-range coherence is lacking and the origin of the ordered phase in these systems remains controversial. Here, using ultrafast pump-probe microscopy, we investigate the possible excitonic insulator TaNiSe Below 328 K, we observe the anomalous micrometer-scale propagation of coherent modes at velocities of ~10 m/s, which we attribute to the hybridization between phonon modes and the phase mode of the condensate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
February 2021
We study the decay mechanism of the gapped lowest-lying axial excitation of a quasipure atomic Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a cylindrical box trap. Owing to the absence of accessible lower-energy modes, or direct coupling to an external bath, this excitation is protected against one-body (linear) decay, and the damping mechanism is exclusively nonlinear. We develop a universal theoretical model that explains this fundamentally nonlinear damping as a process whereby two quanta of the gapped lowest excitation mode couple to a higher-energy mode, which subsequently decays into a continuum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe show that a simple experimental setting of a locally pumped and lossy array of two-level quantum systems can stabilize states with strong long-range coherence. Indeed, by explicit analytic construction, we show there is an extensive set of steady-state density operators, from minimally to maximally entangled, despite this being an interacting open many-body problem. Such nonequilibrium steady states arise from a hidden symmetry that stabilizes Bell pairs over arbitrarily long distances, with unique experimental signatures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe uncover a topological classification applicable to open fermionic systems governed by a general class of Lindblad master equations. These "quadratic Lindbladians" can be captured by a non-Hermitian single-particle matrix which describes internal dynamics as well as system-environment coupling. We show that this matrix must belong to one of ten non-Hermitian Bernard-LeClair symmetry classes which reduce to the Altland-Zirnbauer classes in the closed limit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClassical dynamical systems close to a critical point are known to act as efficient sensors due to a strongly nonlinear response. We explore such systems in the quantum regime by modeling a quantum version of a driven van der Pol oscillator. We find the classical response survives down to one excitation quantum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe study the topological properties of one-dimensional systems undergoing unitary time evolution. We show that symmetries possessed both by the initial wave function and by the Hamiltonian at all times may not be present in the time-dependent wave function-a phenomenon which we dub "dynamically induced symmetry breaking." This leads to the possibility of a time-varying bulk index after quenching within noninteracting gapped topological phases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe develop an analytic theory for the recently demonstrated Josephson junction laser [M. C. Cassidy et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe de Haas-van Alphen effect describes the periodic oscillation of the magnetization in a material as a function of an inverse applied magnetic field. It forms the basis of a well established procedure for measuring Fermi surface properties, and its observation is typically taken as a direct signature of a system being metallic. However, certain insulators can show similar oscillations of the magnetization from quantization of the energies of electron states in filled bands.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKondo insulating materials lie outside the usual dichotomy of weakly versus correlated-band versus Mott-insulators. They are metallic at high temperatures but resemble band insulators at low temperatures because of the opening of an interaction-induced band gap. The first discovered Kondo insulator (KI) SmB_{6} has been predicted to form a topological KI (TKI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe propose the use of optical lattice clocks operated with fermionic alkaline-earth atoms to study spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in interacting many-body systems. The SOC emerges naturally during the clock interrogation, when atoms are allowed to tunnel and accumulate a phase set by the ratio of the "magic" lattice wavelength to the clock transition wavelength. We demonstrate how standard protocols such as Rabi and Ramsey spectroscopy that take advantage of the sub-Hertz resolution of state-of-the-art clock lasers can perform momentum-resolved band tomography and determine SOC-induced s-wave collisions in nuclear-spin-polarized fermions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
October 2015
The de Haas-van Alphen effect (dHvAE), describing oscillations of the magnetization as a function of magnetic field, is commonly assumed to be a definite sign for the presence of a Fermi surface (FS). Indeed, the effect forms the basis of a well-established experimental procedure for accurately measuring FS topology and geometry of metallic systems, with parameters commonly extracted by fitting to the Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) theory based on Fermi liquid theory. Here we show that, in contrast to this canonical situation, there can be quantum oscillations even for band insulators of certain types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe propose a scheme for realizing lattice potentials of subwavelength spacing for ultracold atoms. It is based on spin-dependent optical lattices with a time-periodic modulation. We show that the atomic motion is well described by the combined action of an effective, time-independent lattice of small spacing, together with a micromotion associated with the time modulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
September 2015
The Harper-Hofstadter model provides a fractal spectrum containing topological bands of any integer Chern number C. We study the many-body physics that is realized by interacting particles occupying Harper-Hofstadter bands with |C|>1. We formulate the predictions of Chern-Simons or composite fermion theory in terms of the filling factor ν, defined as the ratio of particle density to the number of single-particle states per unit area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn two dimensions strongly interacting bosons in a magnetic field can realize a bosonic integer quantum Hall state, the simplest two-dimensional example of a symmetry-protected topological phase. We propose a realistic implementation of this phase using an optical flux lattice. Through exact diagonalization calculations, we show that the system exhibits a clear bulk gap and the topological signature of the bosonic integer quantum Hall state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe show how spectroscopic experiments on a small Laughlin droplet of rotating bosons can directly demonstrate Haldane fractional exclusion statistics of quasihole excitations. The characteristic signatures appear in the single-particle excitation spectrum. We show that the transitions are governed by a "many-body selection rule" which allows one to relate the number of allowed transitions to the number of quasihole states on a finite geometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTopological energy bands have important geometrical properties described by the Berry curvature. We show that the Berry curvature changes the hydrodynamic equations of motion for a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate, and causes significant modifications to the collective mode frequencies. We illustrate our results for the case of two-dimensional Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a Zeeman field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a robust scheme by which fractional quantum Hall states of bosons can be achieved for ultracold atomic gases. We describe a new form of optical flux lattice, suitable for commonly used atomic species with ground state angular momentum J(g) = 1, for which the lowest energy band is topological and nearly dispersionless. Through exact diagonalization studies, we show that, even for moderate interactions, the many-body ground states consist of bosonic fractional quantum Hall states, including the Laughlin state and the Moore-Read (Pfaffian) state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
December 2012
Ultracold atoms in Raman-dressed optical lattices allow for effective momentum-dependent interactions among single-species fermions originating from short-range s-wave interactions. These dressed-state interactions combined with the very flat bands encountered in the recently introduced optical flux lattices push the Stoner instability towards weaker repulsive interactions, making it accessible with current experiments. As a consequence of the coupling between spin and orbital degrees of freedom, the magnetic phase features Ising nematic order.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
July 2011
We present evidence supporting the weakly paired Moore-Read phase in the half-filled second Landau level, focusing on some of the qualitative features of its excitations. Based on numerical studies, we show that systems with odd particle number at the flux N(ϕ)=2N-3 can be interpreted as a neutral fermion mode of one unpaired fermion, which is gapped. The mode is found to have two distinct minima, providing a signature that could be observed by photoluminescence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe study charged excitations of the non-Abelian Moore-Read liquid at a filling factor nu=5/2, allowing for spin depolarization. Using a combination of numerical studies, and taking account of nonzero well widths, we find that at a sufficiently low Zeeman energy it is energetically favorable for charge e/4 quasiholes to bind into Skyrmions of charge e/2. We show that Skyrmion formation is further promoted by disorder, and argue that this can lead to a depolarized nu=5/2 ground state in realistic experimental situations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe propose a method to measure the superfluid fraction of an atomic gas. The method involves the use of a vector potential generated by optical beams with nonzero angular momenta to simulate uniform rotation. The induced change in angular momentum of the atomic gas can be measured spectroscopically.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe discuss the interplay between transport and intrinsic dissipation in quantum Hall bilayers, within the framework of a simple thought experiment. We compute, for the first time, quantum corrections to the semiclassical dynamics of this system. This allows us to reinterpret tunneling measurements on these systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe study the geometrical commensurability oscillations imposed on the resistivity of 2D electrons in a perpendicular magnetic field by a propagating surface acoustic wave (SAW). We show that, for omega