Vortex bound states in dimerized $\pi$-flux optical lattices: characterization, state preparation and current measurement

Abstract

Lattice models display bound states for repulsive interactions that smoothly connect to high-energy two-particle states of doubly occupied sites, namely doublons, for strong onsite interactions. In this work, we show that a distinct type of repulsively bound states, namely vortex bound states of two bosons, appear in dimerized square lattices pierced by a uniform $\pi$-flux for moderate interactions. By focusing on a ladder geometry as an illustrative example, we characterize their properties, including chirality-changing decay channels induced by flux detuning, and we develop protocols to perform state preparation in optical lattices via adiabatic sequences or recently developed current imprinting methods. Finally, we show how to measure currents and thus chirality by quenching the system onto isolated pairs of nearest-neighbor sites and then sampling the corresponding dynamics. These results can also provide an experimentally realistic strategy for state preparation and probing of chiral gapped many-body phases in optical lattices.

References in corpus (23)

• Many-Body Physics with Ultracold Gases
• Scheme to Achieve Silicon Topological Photonics
• Topological Quantum Matter with Ultracold Gases in Optical Lattices
• Topological Mott Insulators
• Repulsively bound atom pairs in an optical lattice
• Strongly Correlated Quantum Walks in Optical Lattices
• Non-standard Hubbard models in optical lattices: a review
• Orbital superfluidity in the $P$-band of a bipartite optical square lattice
• Engineering spin-orbit coupling for photons and polaritons in microstructures
• Fractional Bloch oscillations in photonic lattices
• Realization of a fractional quantum Hall state with ultracold atoms
• Two-particle states in the Hubbard model
• Vortex and Meissner phases of strongly-interacting bosons on a two-leg ladder
• Two-body physics in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model
• Scattering resonances and two-particle bound states of the extended Hubbard model
• Realization of fractional quantum Hall state with interacting photons
• Topological two-body bound states in the interacting Haldane model
• Local readout and control of current and kinetic energy operators in optical lattices
• Flat-band localization and interaction-induced delocalization of photons
• Frustrated magnets without geometrical frustration in bosonic flux ladders
• Floquet-engineered nonlinearities and controllable pair-hopping processes: From optical Kerr cavities to correlated quantum matter
• Floquet engineering of optical nonlinearities: a quantum many-body approach
• Strongly interacting photons in 2D waveguide QED