Synthetic dimensions for cold atoms from shaking a harmonic trap

Year: 2017

Authors: Price HM., Ozawa T., Goldman N

Autors Affiliation: Univ Trento, INO CNR BEC Ctr, I-38123 Povo, Italy; Univ Trento, Dipartimento Fis, I-38123 Povo, Italy; Univ Libre Bruxelles, Fac Sci, CENOLI, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.

Abstract: We introduce a simple scheme to implement synthetic dimensions in ultracold atomic gases, which only requires two basic and ubiquitous ingredients: the harmonic trap, which confines the atoms, combined with a periodic shaking. In our approach, standard harmonic oscillator eigenstates are reinterpreted as lattice sites along a synthetic dimension, while the coupling between these lattice sites is controlled by the applied time modulation. The phase of this modulation enters as a complex hopping phase, leading straightforwardly to an artificial magnetic field upon adding a second dimension. We show that this artificial gauge field has important consequences, such as the counterintuitive reduction of average energy under resonant driving, or the realization of quantum Hall physics. Our approach offers significant advantages over previous implementations of synthetic dimensions, providing an intriguing route towards higher-dimensional topological physics and strongly-correlated states.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A

Volume: 95 (2)      Pages from: 23607-1  to: 23607-17

More Information: The authors acknowledge A. Bermudez, J. C. Budich, J. P. Brantut, I. Carusotto, N. R. Cooper, A. Daley, J. Dalibard, G. Juzeliunas, F. Gerbier, M. Oberthaler, T. Scaffidi, and F. Schmidt-Kaler for stimulating discussions. H.M.P. and T.O. are supported by the EU-FET Proactive grant AQuS, Project No. 640800, and by the Autonomous Province of Trento, partially through the project On silicon chip quantum optics for quantum computing and secure communications (SiQuro). H.M.P. was also supported by the EC through the H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, Individual Fellowship Grant No. 656093, SynOptic. N. G. is financed by the FRS-FNRS Belgium, by the BSPO under PAI Project No. P7/18 DYGEST and by the ERC Starting Grant TopoCold.
KeyWords: Edge States; Topological Insulators; Optical Lattices; Magnetic-fields; Neutral Atoms; Quantum Simulation; Ultracold Gases; Realization; Photonics; Fermions
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.95.023607

ImpactFactor: 2.909
Citations: 85
data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2024-11-24
References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)

Connecting to view paper tab on IsiWeb: Click here
Connecting to view citations from IsiWeb: Click here