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Synthetic-gauge-field stabilization of the chiral-spin-liquid phase

Gang Chen, Kaden R. A. Hazzard, Ana Maria Rey, and Michael Hermele
Phys. Rev. A 93, 061601(R) – Published 9 June 2016
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Abstract

We explore the phase diagram of the SU(N) Hubbard models describing fermionic alkaline-earth-metal atoms in a square optical lattice with, on average, one atom per site, using a slave rotor mean-field approach. We find that the chiral spin liquid (CSL) predicted for N5 and large interactions passes through a fractionalized state with a spinon Fermi surface as interactions are decreased before transitioning to a weakly interacting metal. We show that by adding a uniform artificial gauge field with 2π/N flux per plaquette, the CSL becomes the ground state for all N3 at intermediate interactions, persists to weaker interactions, and exhibits a larger spin gap. For N5 we find the CSL is the ground state everywhere the system is a Mott insulator. The gauge field stabilization of the CSL at lower interactions, and thus at weaker lattice depths, together with the increased spin gap, can relax the temperature constraints required for its experimental realization in ultracold atom systems.

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  • Received 13 February 2015
  • Revised 30 July 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.93.061601

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Gang Chen1,2,*, Kaden R. A. Hazzard3,4, Ana Maria Rey5,6, and Michael Hermele7,6

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 2Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
  • 4Rice Center for Quantum Materials, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
  • 5JILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado–Boulder, NIST, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA
  • 6Center for Theory of Quantum Matter, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 7Department of Physics, University of Colorado–Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA

  • *chggst@gmail.com

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 6 — June 2016

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