Phasonic Spectroscopy of a Quantum Gas in a Quasicrystalline Lattice

Shankari V. Rajagopal, Toshihiko Shimasaki, Peter Dotti, Mantas Račiūnas, Ruwan Senaratne, Egidijus Anisimovas, André Eckardt, and David M. Weld
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 223201 – Published 25 November 2019
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Abstract

Phasonic degrees of freedom are unique to quasiperiodic structures and play a central role in poorly understood properties of quasicrystals from excitation spectra to wave function statistics to electronic transport. However, phasons are challenging to access dynamically in the solid state due to their complex long-range character and the effects of disorder and strain. We report phasonic spectroscopy of a quantum gas in a one-dimensional quasicrystalline optical lattice. We observe that strong phasonic driving produces a nonperturbative high-harmonic plateau strikingly different from the effects of standard dipolar driving. Tuning the potential from crystalline to quasicrystalline, we identify spectroscopic signatures of quasiperiodicity and interactions and map the emergence of a multifractal energy spectrum, opening a path to direct imaging of the Hofstadter butterfly.

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  • Received 12 September 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.223201

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Shankari V. Rajagopal1, Toshihiko Shimasaki1, Peter Dotti1, Mantas Račiūnas2, Ruwan Senaratne1, Egidijus Anisimovas2, André Eckardt3, and David M. Weld1,*

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
  • 2Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio 3, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania
  • 3Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

  • *weld@ucsb.edu

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Issue

Vol. 123, Iss. 22 — 29 November 2019

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