Abstract
We consider the behavior of Fermi atoms on optical superlattices with two-well structure for each node. Fermions on such lattices serve as an analog simulator of the Fermi-type Hamiltonian. We derive a mapping between fermion quantum ordering in the optical superlattices and the spin-orbital physics developed for degenerate -electron compounds. The appropriate effective spin-orbital model appears to be a modification of the Kugel-Khomskii Hamiltonian. We show how different ground states of this Hamiltonian correspond to particular spin-pseudospin arrangement patterns of fermions on the lattice. The dependence of the fermion arrangement on phases of complex hopping amplitudes is illustrated.
- Received 15 February 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.90.023625
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