Variational wavefunctions that introduce zeros (vortices) to screen repulsive interactions are typically difficult to verify in unbiased microscopic calculations. An approach is constructed to insert vortices into ansatz wavefunctions using a matrix product representation. This approach opens the door to validation of a broad class of Jastrow-based wavefunctions. The formalism is applied to a model motivated by experiments on ultracold atomic gases in the presence of synthetic spin-orbit coupling. Validated wavefunctions show that vortices in atomic Fermi gases with flat Rashba spin-orbit bands cluster near the system center and should therefore be directly visible in time-of-flight imaging.
In a flat Bloch band the kinetic energy is quenched and single particles cannot propagate since they are localized due to destructive interference. Whether this remains true in the presence of interactions is a challenging question because a flat dispersion usually leads to highly correlated ground states. Here we compute numerically the ground state energy of lattice models with completely flat band structure in a ring geometry. We find that the energy as a function of the magnetic flux threading the ring has a half-flux quantum $Phi_0/2 = hc/(2e)$ period, indicating that only bound pairs of particles with charge $2e$ are propagating, while single quasiparticles with charge $e$ remain localized. We show analytically in one dimension that in fact the whole many-body spectrum has the same periodicity. Our analytical arguments are valid for both bosons and fermions, for generic interactions respecting some symmetries of the lattice and at arbitrary temperatures. Moreover we construct an extensive number of exact conserved quantities for the one dimensional lattice models. These conserved quantities are associated to the occupation of localized single quasiparticle states. Our results imply that in lattice models with flat bands preformed pairs dominate transport even above the critical temperature of the transition to a superfluid state.
We investigate the unitary evolution following a quantum quench in quantum spin models possessing a (nearly) flat band in the linear excitation spectrum. Inspired by the perspective offered by ensembles of individually trapped Rydberg atoms, we focus on the paradigmatic trasverse-field Ising model on two dimensional lattices featuring a flat band as a result of destructive interference effects (Lieb and Kagome lattice); or a nearly flat band due to a strong energy mismatch among sublattices (triangular lattice). Making use of linear spin-wave theory, we show that quantum quenches, equipped with single-spin imaging, can directly reveal the spatially localized nature of the dispersionless excitations, and their slow propagation or lack of propagation altogether. Moreover we show that Fourier analysis applied to the post-quench time evolution of wavevector-dependent quantities allows for the spectroscopic reconstruction of the flat bands. Our results pave the way for future experiments with Rydberg quantum simulators, which can extend our linear spin-wave study to the fully nonlinear regime, characterized by the appearance of dense, strongly interacting gases of dispersionless excitations.
We consider spectroscopies of strongly interacting atomic gases, and we propose a model for describing the coupling between quasiparticles and gapless phonon-like modes. Our model explains features in a wide range of different experiments in both fermionic and bosonic atom gases in various spectroscopic methods.
We introduce a non-Abelian kagome lattice model that has both time-reversal and inversion symmetries and study the flat band physics and topological phases of this model. Due to the coexistence of both time-reversal and inversion symmetries, the energy bands consist of three doubly degenerate bands whose energy and conditions for the presence of flat bands could be obtained analytically, allowing us to tune the flat band with respect to the other two dispersive bands from the top to the middle and then to the bottom of the three bands. We further study the gapped phases of the model and show that they belong to the same phase as the band gaps only close at discrete points of the parameter space, making any two gapped phases adiabatically connected to each other without closing the band gap. Using the Pfaffian approach based on the time-reversal symmetry and parity characterization from the inversion symmetry, we calculate the bulk topological invariants and demonstrate that the unique gapped phases belong to the $Z_2$ quantum spin Hall phase, which is further confirmed by the edge state calculations.
In this work we study the possible occurrence of topological insulators for 2D fermions of high spin. They can be realized in cold fermion systems with ground-state atomic spin $F>tfrac{1}{2}$, if the optical potential is properly designed, and spin-orbit coupling is relevant. The latter is shown to be induced by letting the fermions interact with a specially tuned arrangement of polarized laser beams. When the system is subject to a perpendicular magnetic field, time reversal symmetry is broken but the ensuing Hamiltonian is still endowed with a mirror symmetry. Topological insulators for fermions of higher spins are fundamentally distinct from those pertaining to spin $frac{1}{2}$. The underlying physics reveals a plethora of positive and negative mirror Chern numbers, respectively corresponding to chiral and anti-chiral edge states. Here, for simplicity, we concentrate on the case $F=tfrac{3}{2}$ (which is suitable for $^{6}$Li or $^2$H atoms) but extension to higher spins (such as $^{40}$K whose ground-state spin is $F=tfrac{9}{2}$), is straightforward.