We study analytically the optical properties of a simple model for an electron-hole pair on a ring subjected to perpendicular magnetic flux and in-plane electric field. We show how to tune this excitonic system from optically active to optically dark
as a function of these external fields. Our results offer a simple mechanism for exciton storage and read-out.
We propose an experiment to obtain the phase diagram of the fermionic Hubbard model, for any dimensionality, using cold atoms in optical lattices. It is based on measuring the total energy for a sequence of trap profiles. It combines finite-size scal
ing with an additional `finite-curvature scaling necessary to reach the homogeneous limit. We illustrate its viability in the 1D case, simulating experimental data in the Bethe-Ansatz local density approximation. Including experimental errors, the filling corresponding to the Mott transition can be determined with better than 3% accuracy.
