Observation of topological states in an optical Raman lattice with ultracold fermions
ORAL
Abstract
The spin-orbit coupling with cold atoms, especially in optical lattices, provides a versatile platform to investigate the intriguing topological matters. In this talk, we will present the realization of one-dimensional spin-dependent lattice dressed by the periodic Raman field. Ultracold $^{173}$Yb fermions loaded into an optical Raman lattice reveal non-trivial spin textures due to the band topology, by which we measured topological invariants and determined a topological phase transition. In addition, we explored the non-equilibrium quench dynamics between the topological and the trivial states by suddenly changing the band topology of the optical Raman lattice. The optical Raman lattice demonstrated here opens a new avenue to study the spin-orbit coupling physics and furthermore to realize novel quantum matters such as symmetry-protected topological states.
*Funded by Croucher Foundation and Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong (Project ECS26300014, GRF16300215, GRF16311516, and Croucher Innovation grants); MOST (Grant No. 2016YFA0301604) and NSFC (No. 11574008)
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