Interacting gauge theories in ultracold gases

We consider ultracold atoms coupled to a near-resonant laser field, and show how weak interacting -- yet not dynamical -- gauge fields can be induced in the system. The resulting microscopic effective theory corresponds to a physical realization of one-dimensional anyons, while its semiclassical (or mean-field) approximation supports chiral solitons and persistent currents on a ring.\\[4pt] [1] M.J. Edmonds et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 085301 (2013)