Title | Cold Atoms in Non-Abelian Gauge Potentials: From the Hofstadter "Moth" to Lattice Gauge Theory |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2005 |
Authors | Osterloh, K, Baig, M, Santos, L, Zoller, P, Lewenstein, M |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 95 |
Issue | 1 |
Pagination | 010403 |
Date Published | 06/2005 |
ISSN | 0031-9007 |
Abstract | We demonstrate how to create artificial external non-Abelian gauge potentials acting on cold atoms in optical lattices. The method employs atoms with k internal states, and laser assisted state sensitive tunneling, described by unitary k×k matrices. The single-particle dynamics in the case of intense U(2) vector potentials lead to a generalized Hofstadter butterfly spectrum which shows a complex mothlike structure. We discuss the possibility to realize non-Abelian interferometry (Aharonov-Bohm effect) and to study many-body dynamics of ultracold matter in external lattice gauge fields. |
URL | https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.010403 |
DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.010403 |
