Many-body chiral edge currents and sliding phases of atomic spinwaves in momentum-space lattice

Abstract

Collective excitations (spinwaves) of long-lived atomic hyperfine states can be synthesized into a Bose-Hubbard model in momentum space. We explore many-body ground states and dynamics of a two-leg momentum-space lattice formed by two coupled hyperfine states. Essential ingredients of this setting are a staggered artificial magnetic field engineered by lasers that couple the spinwave states, and a state-dependent long-range interaction, which is induced by laser-dressing a hyperfine state to a Rydberg state. The Rydberg dressed two-body interaction gives rise to a state-dependent blockade in momentum space, and can amplify staggered flux induced anti-chiral edge currents in the many-body ground state in the presence of magnetic flux. When the Rydberg dressing is applied to both hyperfine states, exotic sliding insulating and superfluid/supersolid phases emerge. Due to the Rydberg dressed long-range interaction, spinwaves slide along a leg of the momentum-space lattice without costing energy. Our study paves a route to the quantum simulation of topological phases and exotic dynamics with interacting spinwaves of atomic hyperfine states in momentum-space lattice.

5 pages, 4 figrures, with Supplemental Material, accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett