ISBN 978-3-8439-1327-0

978-3-8439-1327-0, Reihe Physik

Julian Struck
Artificial Gauge Fields in Driven Optical Lattices - From Frustrated XY Models to Ising Ferromagnetism

134 Seiten, Dissertation Universität Hamburg (2013), Softcover, B5

Zusammenfassung / Abstract

Since the beginning of this century quantum degenerate gases in optical lattices have developed from proof-of-principle experiments into quantum emulators with a continuously increasing number of tools for manipulation and probing. They provide a clean, controllable and isolated environment for the investigation of model Hamiltonians, especially of those eluding thorough analytical and numerical treatment. In recent years, major efforts have been undertaken to mimic the presence of gauge fields in these systems.

In this thesis time-periodic driving of bosons in optical lattices is systematically utilized to engineer tunneling matrix elements. In particular, sinusoidal driving is employed to change the sign and magnitude of J, thereby emulating ferro- or antiferromagnetic coupling schemes. Moreover, for the first time complex valued tunneling matrix elements are synthesized by breaking time-reversal symmetry. Within the framework of the Peierls substitution, this corresponds to the creation of artificial vector gauge potentials for neutral atoms confined in optical lattices.