Chiral topological phases in optical lattices without synthetic fields

Abstract

Synthetic fields applied to ultracold quantum gases can realize topological phases that transcend conventional Bose and Fermi-liquid paradigms. Raman laser beams in particular are under scrutiny as a route to create synthetic fields in neutral gases to mimic ordinary magnetic and electric fields acting on charged matter. Yet external laser beams can impose heating and losses that make cooling into many-body topological phases challenging. We propose that atomic or molecular dipoles placed in optical lattices can realize a topological phase without synthetic fields by placing them in certain frustrated lattices. We use numerical modeling on a specific example to show that the interactions between dipolar fermions placed in a kagome optical lattice spontaneously break time reversal symmetry to lead to a topological Mott insulator, a chiral topological phase generated entirely by interactions. We estimate realistic entropy and trapping parameters to argue that this intriguing phase of matter can be probed with quantum gases using a combination of recently implemented technologies.

7 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Tunning topological phase and quantum anomalous Hall effect by interaction in quadratic band touching systems
• Quantum Anomalous Hall Phase Stabilized via Realistic Interactions on a Kagome Lattice
• Quantum Phases of Kagome Electron System with Half-Filled Flat Bands
• Ubiquitous nematic Dirac semimetal emerging from interacting quadratic band touching system
• Stabilizing Topological Superfluidity of Lattice Fermions