https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20135701004
Tunable gauge potential for spinless particles in driven lattices
1 Institut für Laserphysik, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
2 Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, Barcelona, Spain
3 Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany
a e-mail: jsimonet@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
We present a universal method to create a tunable, artificial vector gauge potential for neutral particles trapped in an optical lattice. A suitable periodic shaking of the lattice allows to engineer a Peierls phase for the hopping parameters. This scheme thus allows one to address the atomic internal degrees of freedom independently. We experimentally demonstrate the realisation of such artificial potentials in a 1D lattice, which generate ground state superfluids at arbitrary non-zero quasimomentum [4].
This scheme offers fascinating possibilities to emulate synthetic magnetic fields in 2D lattices. In a triangular lattice, continuously tunable staggered fluxes are realised. Spontaneous symmetry breaking has recently been observed for a π-flux [23]. With the presented scheme, we are now able to study the influence of a small symmetry breaking perturbation.
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2013
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