We investigate the ab-initio phase diagram of ultracold 87-Rb atoms in an one-dimensional two-color superlattice. Using single-particle band structure calculations we map the experimental setup onto the parameters of the Bose-Hubbard model. This ab-initio ansatz allows us to express the phase diagrams in terms of the experimental control parameters, i.e., the intensities of the lasers that form the optical superlattice. In order to solve the many-body problem for experimental system sizes we adopt the density-matrix renormalization-group algorithm. A detailed study of convergence and finite-size effects for all observables is presented. Our results show that all relevant quantum phases, i.e., superfluid, Mott-insulator, and quasi Bose-glass, can be accessed through intensity variation of the lasers alone. However, it turns out that the phase diagram is strongly affected by the longitudinal trapping potential.
We clarify some technical issues in the present generalized effective-potential Landau theory (GEPLT) that makes the GEPLT more consistent and complete. Utilizing this clarified GEPLT, we analytically study the quantum phase transitions of ultracold Bose gases in bipartite superlattices at zero termparture. The corresponding quantum phase boundaries are analytically calculated up to the third-order hopping, which are in excellent agreement with the quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations.
We study the quasiadiabatic dynamics of a one-dimensional system of ultracold bosonic atoms loaded in an optical superlattice. Focusing on a slow linear variation in time of the superlattice potential, the system is driven from a conventional Mott insulator phase to a superlattice-induced Mott insulator, crossing in between a gapless critical superfluid region. Due to the presence of a gapless region, a number of defects depending on the velocity of the quench appear. Our findings suggest a power-law dependence similar to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for intermediate values of the quench rate. F…
In this letter, by the use of the generalized effective potential theory, with the help of process-chain approach under the framework of Kato formulation of perturbation expansion, we calculate out the quantum phase diagram up to 8-th order for an ultracold Bose system in a square optical superlattice. Base on these perturbative data, with the help of the linear fit extrapolation technique, more accurate results are gotten, which are in excellent agreement with recent Monte-Carlo numerical results. Moreover, by employing the generalized re-summed Green's function method and cumulant expansion,…
We propose an effective Ising spin chain constructed with dipolar quantum gases confined in a one-dimensional optical superlattice. Mapping the motional degrees of freedom of a single particle in the lattice onto a pseudo-spin results in effective transverse and longitudinal magnetic fields. This effective Ising spin chain exhibits a quantum phase transition from a paramagnetic to a single-kink phase as the dipolar interaction increases. Particularly in the single-kink phase,a magnetic kink arises in the effective spin chain and behaves as a quasi-particle in a pinning potential exerted by the…
Gauge fields for ultracold atoms in optical superlattices
我们提出了一个在二维正方形光晶格中的冷原子上产生强类U（1）规范场的方案。我们的建议依赖于两个基本特征，一个长寿命的亚稳态激发态，存在于碱土金属或镱原子，和一个光学超晶格。正如Jaksch和Zoller的提议[New Journal of Physics 5，56（2003）]，相邻位点之间的激光辅助隧穿产生有效的磁场。在紧束缚近似中，原子运动由哈珀汉密尔顿描述，每个晶格元的通量实际上可以取0和$π$之间的任何值。我们展示了如何利用超晶格，以确保每个元获得相同的相位，从而模拟一个均匀的磁场。我们讨论了人工规范场对非相互作用玻色子和费米子气体的可观测结果。我们还概述了如何计划可以推广到非阿贝尔规范场。
One-dimensional superlattices with periodic spatial modulations of onsite potentials or tunneling coefficients can exhibit a variety of properties associated with topology or symmetry. Recent developments of ring-shaped optical lattices allow a systematic study of those properties in superlattices with or without boundaries. While superlattices with additional modulating parameters are shown to have quantized topological invariants in the augmented parameter space, we also found localized or zero-energy states associated with symmetries of the Hamiltonians. Probing those states in ultracold-at…
Based on a one-dimensional double-well superlattice with a unit filling of ultracold atoms per site, we propose a scheme to generate scalable entangled states in the superlattice through resonant lattice shakings. Our scheme utilizes periodic lattice modulations to entangle two atoms in each unit cell with respect to their orbital degree of freedom, and the complete atomic system in the superlattice becomes a cluster of bipartite entangled atom pairs. To demonstrate this we perform $ab \ initio$ quantum dynamical simulations using the Multi-Layer Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree Meth…
Topological pumping of ultracold atomic gases has recently been demonstrated in two experiments (Nat. Phys. 12, 296; 12, 350 (2016)). Here we study the topological pumping of a single magnon in a dynamically controlled spin-dependent optical superlattice. When the interaction between atoms is strong, this system supports a dynamical version of topological magnon insulator phase. By initially putting a single magnon in the superlattice and slowly varying the dynamical controlled parameter over one period, the shift of the magnon density center is quantized and equal to the topological Chern num…
More than 30 years ago, Thouless introduced the concept of a topological charge pump that would enable the robust transport of charge through an adiabatic cyclic evolution of the underlying Hamiltonian. In contrast to classical transport, the transported charge was shown to be quantized and purely determined by the topology of the pump cycle, making it robust to perturbations. On a fundamental level, the quantized charge transport can be connected to a topological invariant, the Chern number, first introduced in the context of the integer quantum Hall effect. A Thouless quantum pump may theref…
We propose a two-dimensional (2D) version of Thouless pumping that can be realized by using ultracold atoms in optical lattices. To be specific, we consider a 2D square lattice tight-binding model with an obliquely introduced superlattice. It is demonstrated that quantized particle transport occurs in this system, and that the transport is expressed as a solution of a Diophantine equation. This topological nature can be understood by mapping the Hamiltonian to a three-dimensional (3D) cubic lattice model with a homogeneous magnetic field. We also propose a continuum model with obliquely introd…
We consider a particle governed by a one-dimensional Hamiltonian in which artificial periodic spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman lattice have incommensurate periods. Using best rational approximations to such quasiperiodic Hamiltonian, the problem is reduced to description of spinor states in a superlattice. In the absence of a constant Zeeman splitting, the system acquires an additional symmetry, which hinders the localization. However, if the lattices are deep enough, then localized states can appear even for Zeeman field with zero or small mean value. Spatial distribution of localized modes is …
In this thesis, the properties of mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates at $T = 0$ have been investigated using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods and Density Functional Theory (DFT) with the aim of understanding physics beyond the mean-field theory in Bose-Bose mixtures.
We have obtained accurate ab initio quartet potentials for the diatomic metastable triplet helium + alkali-metal (Li, Na, K, Rb) systems, using all-electron restricted open-shell coupled cluster singles and doubles with noniterative triples corrections [CCSD(T)] calculations and accurate calculations of the long-range $C_6$ coefficients. These potentials provide accurate ab initio quartet scattering lengths, which for these many-electron systems is possible, because of the small reduced masses and shallow potentials that results in a small amount of bound states. Our results are relevant for u…
We propose a scheme realizing topological insulators and quantized pumps for magnon excitations, based on strongly-interacting two-component ultracold atoms trapped in optical superlattices. Specifically, we show how to engineer the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model for magnons using state-independent superlattices, and the Rice-Mele model using state-dependent superlattices. We describe realistic experimental protocols to detect the topological signatures of magnon excitations in these two models. In particular, we show that the non-equilibrium dynamics of a single magnon can be exploited to directl…
Weyl points, synthetic magnetic monopoles in the 3D momentum space, are the key features of topological Weyl semimetals. The observation of Weyl points in ultracold atomic gases usually relies on the realization of high-dimensional spin-orbit coupling (SOC) for two pseudospin states (% \textit{i.e.,} spin-1/2), which requires complex laser configurations and precise control of laser parameters, thus has not been realized in experiment. Here we propose that robust Wely points can be realized using 1D triple-well superlattices (spin-1/three-band systems) with 2D transverse SOC achieved by Raman-…
We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of a 1D Bose-Hubbard model in a gradient potential and a superlattice, beginning from a deep Mott insulator regime with an average filling of one particle per site. Studying a quench that is near resonance to tunnelling of the particles over two lattice sites, we show how a spin model emerges consisting of two coupled Ising chains that are coupled by interaction terms in a staggered geometry. We compare and contrast the behavior in this case with that in a previously studied case where the resonant tunnelling was over a single site. Using optimized tensor …
Higher-order topological superfluids have gapped bulk and symmetry-protected Majorana zero modes with various localizations. Motivated by recent advances, we present a proposal for synthesizing multi-order topological superfluids that support various Majorana zero modes in ultracold atomic gases. For this purpose, we use the two-dimensional optical superlattice that introduces a spatial modulation to the spin-orbit coupling in one direction, providing an extra degree of freedom for the emergent higher-order topological state. We find the topologically trivial superfluids, first-order and secon…
Experiments with cold ion-atom mixtures have recently opened the way for the production and application of ultracold molecular ions. Here, in a comparative study, we theoretically investigate ground and several excited electronic states and prospects for the formation of molecular ions composed of a calcium ion and an alkali-metal atom: CaAlk$^{+}$ (Alk=Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs). We use a quantum chemistry approach based on non-empirical pseudopotential, operatorial core-valence correlation, large Gaussian basis sets, and full configuration interaction method for valence electrons. Adiabatic potentia…
We extent the recently developed Multi-Layer Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree method for Bosons (ML-MCTDHB) for simulating the correlated quantum dynamics of bosonic mixtures to the fermionic sector and establish a unifying approach for the investigation of the correlated quantum dynamics of mixture of indistinguishable particles, be it fermions or bosons. Relying on a multi-layer wave-function expansion, the resulting Multi-Layer Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree method for Mixtures (ML-MCTDHX) can be adapted to efficiently resolve system-specific intra- and inter-species c…
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices offer a great promise to generate entangled states for scalable quantum information processing owing to the inherited long coherence time and controllability over a large number of particles. We report on the generation, manipulation and detection of atomic spin entanglement in an optical superlattice. Employing a spin-dependent superlattice, atomic spins in the left or right sites can be individually addressed and coherently manipulated by microwave pulses with near unitary fidelities. Spin entanglement of the two atoms in the double wells of the superlatti…
The ground state of spin-1 ultracold bosons trapped in a periodic one-dimensional optical superlattice is studied. The two sites of the unit cell have an energy shift between them, whose competition with the spin-dependent strength is the main focus of this paper. Charge density wave (CDW) phases appear for semi-integer and integer densities, leading to rich phase diagrams with Mott insulator, superfluid and CDW phases. The spin-dependent interaction favors insulator phases for integer densities and disfavors CDW phases for semi-integer densities, which tend to disappear. Also, quantum phase t…
An exotic phase, the bond order wave, characterized by the spontaneous dimerization of the hopping, has been predicted to exist sandwiched between the band and Mott insulators in systems described by the ionic Hubbard model. Despite growing theoretical evidences, this phase still evades experimental detection. Given the recent realization of the ionic Hubbard model in ultracold atomic gases, we propose here to detect the bond order wave using superlattice modulation spectroscopy. We demonstrate, with the help of time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group and bosonization, that this sp…
We describe tunable optical sawtooth and zigzag lattices for ultracold atoms. Making use of the superlattice generated by commensurate wavelengths of light beams, tunable geometries including zigzag and sawtooth configurations can be realised. We provide an experimentally feasible method to fully control inter- ($t$) and intra- ($t'$) unit-cell tunnelling in zigzag and sawtooth lattices. We analyse the conversion of the lattice geometry from zigzag to sawtooth, and show that a nearly flat band is attainable in the sawtooth configuration by means of tuning the lattice parameters. The bandwidth …
We study the topological properties of an extended Bose-Hubbard model with cyclically modulated hopping and on-site potential parameters, which can be realized with ultracold bosonic atoms in a one-dimensional optical superlattice. We show that the interacting bosonic chain at half filling and in the deep Mott insulating regime can simulate bosonic Chern insulators with a topological phase diagram similar to that of the Haldane model of noninteracting fermions. Furthermore, we explore the topological properties of the ground state by calculating the many-body Chern number, the quasiparticle en…
The lifetime of nonreactive ultracold bialkali gases was conjectured to be limited by sticky collisions amplifying three-body loss. We show that the sticking times were previously overestimated and do not support this hypothesis. We find that electronic excitation of NaK+NaK collision complexes by the trapping laser leads to the experimentally observed two-body loss. We calculate the excitation rate with a quasiclassical, statistical model employing ab initio potentials and transition dipole moments. Using longer laser wavelengths or repulsive box potentials may suppress the losses.
We propose and realize a deeply sub-wavelength optical lattice for ultracold neutral atoms using $N$ resonantly Raman-coupled internal degrees of freedom. Although counter-propagating lasers with wavelength $λ$ provided two-photon Raman coupling, the resultant lattice-period was $λ/2N$, an $N$-fold reduction as compared to the conventional $λ/2$ lattice period. We experimentally demonstrated this lattice built from the three $F=1$ Zeeman states of a $^{87}{\rm Rb}$ Bose-Einstein condensate, and generated a lattice with a $λ/6= 132\ {\rm nm}$ period from $λ=790 \ {\rm nm}$ lasers. Lastly, we sh…
An experimental group at Beijing[Yueyang Zhai, ${\it et. al.}$, Phys. Rev. A ${\bf 87}$, 063638 (2013)] introduced the method of standing-wave pulse sequence for efficiently preparing ultracold bosonic atoms into a specific excited band in a 1-dimensional optical lattice. Here, we report a theoretical extension of their work to the problem of 1-dimensional bichromatic superlattice. We find that varying the lattice parameters leads to the so-called Dirac point where a pair of excited bands crosses. This paper thus discusses ${\it simultaneously}$ the efficient excitation of the wave packet to t…
In this paper, we study a one-dimensional boson system in a superlattice potential.This system is experimentally feasible by using ultracold atomic gases,and attracts much attention these days. It is expected that the system has a topological phase called topological Mott insulator (TMI). We show that in strongly-interacting cases, the competition between the superlattice potential and the on-site interaction leads to various TMIs with non-vanishing integer Chern number. Compared to hard-core case, the soft-core boson system exhibits rich phase diagrams including various non-trivial TMIs. By u…
We show that two seemingly unrelated problems - the trapping of an atom in an optical superlattice (OSL) and the libration of a planar rigid rotor in combined electric and optical fields - have isomorphic Hamiltonians. Formed by the interference of optical lattices whose spatial periods differ by a factor of two, OSL gives rise to a periodic potential that acts on atomic translation via the AC Stark effect. The latter system, also known as the generalized planar pendulum (GPP), is realized by subjecting a planar rigid rotor to combined orienting and aligning interactions due to the coupling of…
We report on precise measurements of absolute nonlinear ionization probabilities obtained by exposing optically trapped ultracold rubidium atoms to the field of an ultrashort laser pulse in the intensity range of $1 \times 10^{11}$ to $4 \times 10^{13}$ W/cm$^2$. The experimental data are in perfect agreement with ab-initio theory, based on solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation without any free parameters. Ultracold targets allow to retrieve absolute probabilities since ionized atoms become apparent as a local vacancy imprinted into the target density, which is recorded simultaneousl…
We discuss the experimental engineering of model systems for the description of QED in one spatial dimension via a mixture of bosonic $^{23}$Na and fermionic $^6$Li atoms. The local gauge symmetry is realized in an optical superlattice, using heteronuclear boson-fermion spin-changing interactions which preserve the total spin in every local collision. We consider a large number of bosons residing in the coherent state of a Bose-Einstein condensate on each link between the fermion lattice sites, such that the behavior of lattice QED in the continuum limit can be recovered. The discussion about …
