Experimental measurement of the Berry curvature from anomalous transport

Year: 2017

Authors: Wimmer M., Price HM., Carusotto I., Peschel U.

Autors Affiliation: Erlangen Grad Sch Adv Opt Technol SAOT, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany; Friedrich Schiller Univ Jena, Inst Solid State Theory & Opt, Abbe Ctr Photon, Max Wien Pl 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany; Univ Trento, INO CNR BEC Ctr, Via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Povo, Italy; Univ Trento, Dept Phys, Via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Povo, Italy.

Abstract: The geometric properties of energy bands underlie fascinating phenomena in many systems, including solid-state, ultracold gases and photonics. The local geometric characteristics such as the Berry curvature(1) can be related to global topological invariants such as those classifying the quantum Hall states or topological insulators. Regardless of the band topology, however, any non-zero Berry curvature can have important consequences, such as in the semi-classical evolution of a coherent wavepacket. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that the wavepacket dynamics can be used to directly map out the Berry curvature. To this end, we use optical pulses in two coupled fibre loops to study the discrete time evolution of a wavepacket in a one-dimensional geometric ‘charge’ pump, where the Berry curvature leads to an anomalous displacement of the wavepacket. This is both the first direct observation of Berry curvature effects in an optical system, and a proof-of-principle demonstration that wavepacket dynamics can serve as a high-resolution tool for mapping out geometric properties.

Journal/Review: NATURE PHYSICS

Volume: 13 (6)      Pages from: 545  to: 550

More Information: M.W. acknowledges financial support from the Erlangen Graduate School of Advanced Optical Technologies. Additionally, M.W. would like to thank M. Kremer and A. Bisianov for fruitful discussions. Furthermore, this project was supported by PE 523/14-1 and by the GRK2101 funded by the DFG. H.M.P. was supported by the EC through the H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, Individual Fellowship Grant No. 656093 SynOptic. I.C. was funded by the EU-FET Proactive grant AQuS, Project No. 640800, and by Provincia Autonoma di Trento, partially through the project ’On silicon chip quantum optics for quantum computing and secure communications (SiQuro)’.
KeyWords: Edge States; Ultracold Fermions; Bloch Band; Phase; Photonics; Topology
DOI: 10.1038/NPHYS4050

ImpactFactor: 22.727
Citations: 142
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