No Arabic abstract
Topological phases with broken time-reversal symmetry and Chern number |C|>=2 are of fundamental interest, but it remains unclear how to engineer the desired topological Hamiltonian within the paradigm of spin-orbit-coupled particles hopping only between nearest neighbours of a static lattice. We show that phases with higher Chern number arise when the spin-orbit coupling satisfies a combination of spin and spatial rotation symmetries. We leverage this result both to construct minimal two-band tight binding Hamiltonians that exhibit |C|=2,3 phases, and to show that the Chern number of one of the energy bands can be inferred from the particle spin polarization at the high-symmetry crystal momenta in the Brillouin zone. Using these insights, we provide a detailed experimental scheme for the specific realization of a time-reversal-breaking topological phase with |C|=2 for ultracold atomic gases on a triangular lattice subject to spin-orbit coupling. The Chern number can be directly measured using Zeeman spectroscopy; for fermions the spin amplitudes can be measured directly via time of flight, while for bosons this is preceded by a short Bloch oscillation. Our results provide a pathway to the realization and detection of novel topological phases with higher Chern number in ultracold atomic gases.
We introduce a scheme by which flat bands with higher Chern number $vert Cvert>1$ can be designed in ultracold gases through a coherent manipulation of Bloch bands. Inspired by quantum-optics methods, our approach consists in creating a dark Bloch band by coupling a set of source bands through resonant processes. Considering a $Lambda$ system of three bands, the Chern number of the dark band is found to follow a simple sum rule in terms of the Chern numbers of the source bands: $C_D!=!C_1+C_2-C_3$. Altogether, our dark-state scheme realizes a nearly flat Bloch band with predictable and tunable Chern number $C_D$. We illustrate our method based on a $Lambda$ system, formed of the bands of the Harper-Hofstadter model, which leads to a nearly flat Chern band with $C_D!=!2$. We explore a realistic sequence to load atoms into the dark Chern band, as well as a probing scheme based on Hall drift measurements. Dark Chern bands offer a practical platform where exotic fractional quantum Hall states could be realized in ultracold gases.
We investigate the bulk orbital angular momentum (AM) in a two-dimensional hole-doped topological superconductor (SC) which is composed of a hole-doped semiconductor thin film, a magnetic insulator, and an $s$-wave SC and is characterized by the Chern number $C = -3$. In the topological phase, $L_z/N$ is strongly reduced from the intrinsic value by the non-particle-hole-symmetric edge states as in the corresponding chiral $f$-wave SCs when the spin-orbit interactions (SOIs) are small, while this reduction of $L_z/N$ does not work for the large SOIs. Here $L_z$ and $N$ are the bulk orbital AM and the total number of particles at zero temperature, respectively. As a result, $L_z/N$ is discontinuous or continuous at the topological phase transition depending on the strengths of the SOIs. We also discuss the effects of the edge states by calculating the radial distributions of the orbital AM.
Searching for the first topological superfluid (TSF) remains a primary goal of modern science. Here we study the system of attractively interacting fermions hopping in a square lattice with any linear combinations of Rashba or Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in a normal Zeeman field. By imposing self-consistence equations at half filling, we find there are 3 phases: Band insulator ( BI ), Superfluid (SF) and Topological superfluid (TSF) with a Chern number $ C=2 $. The $ C=2 $ TSF happens in small Zeeman fields and weak interactions which is in the experimentally most easily accessible regime. The transition from the BI to the SF is a first order one due to the multi-minima structure of the ground state energy landscape. There is a new class of topological phase transition from the SF to the $ C=2 $ TSF at the low critical field $ h_{c1} $, then another one from the $ C=2 $ TSF to the BI at the upper critical field $ h_{c2} $. We derive effective actions to describe the two new classes of topological phase transitions, then use them to study the Majorana edge modes and the zero modes inside the vortex core of the $ C=2 $ TSF near both $ h_{c1} $ and $ h_{c2} $, especially explore their spatial and spin structures. We find the edge modes decay into the bulk with oscillating behaviors and determine both the decay and oscillating lengths. We compute the bulk spectra and map out the Berry Curvature distribution in momentum space near both $ h_{c1} $ and $ h_{c2} $. We also elaborate some intriguing bulk-Berry curvature-edge-vortex correspondences. Experimental implications in both 2d non-centrosymmetric materials under a periodic substrate and cold atoms in an optical lattice are given.
We obtain the band structure of a particle moving in a magnetic spin texture, classified by its chirality and structure factor, in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. This rich interplay leads to a variety of novel topological phases characterized by the Berry curvature and their associated Chern numbers. We suggest methods of experimentally exploring these topological phases by Hall drift measurements of the Chern number and Berry phase interferometry to map the Berry curvature.
We investigate dissipation-induced p-wave paired states of fermions in two dimensions and show the existence of spatially separated Majorana zero modes in a phase with vanishing Chern number. We construct an explicit and natural model of a dissipative vortex that traps a single of these modes, and establish its topological origin by mapping the problem to a chiral one-dimensional wire where we observe a non-equilibrium topological phase transition characterized by an abrupt change of a topological invariant (winding number). We show that the existence of a single Majorana zero mode in the vortex core is intimately tied to the dissipative nature of our model. Engineered dissipation opens up possibilities for experimentally realizing such states with no Hamiltonian counterpart.