Detecting Topological Phases in Cold Atoms

Xiong-Jun Liu, K. T. Law, T. K. Ng, and Patrick A. Lee
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 120402 – Published 20 September 2013
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Abstract

Chern insulators are band insulators which exhibit a gap in the bulk and gapless excitations in the edge. Detection of Chern insulators is a serious challenge in cold atoms since the Hall transport measurements are technically unrealistic for neutral atoms. By establishing a natural correspondence between the time-reversal invariant topological insulator and the quantum anomalous Hall system, we show for a class of Chern insulators that the topology can be determined by only measuring Bloch eigenstates at highly symmetric points of the Brillouin zone. Furthermore, we introduce two experimental schemes, including the spin-resolved Bloch oscillation, to carry out the measurement. These schemes are highly feasible under realistic experimental conditions. Our results may provide a powerful tool to detect topological phases in cold atoms.

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  • Received 2 July 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.120402

© 2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Xiong-Jun Liu1,2,3, K. T. Law2, T. K. Ng2, and Patrick A. Lee1

  • 1Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China
  • 3Institute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China

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Issue

Vol. 111, Iss. 12 — 20 September 2013

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