Magnetic crystals and helical liquids in alkaline-earth fermionic gases

Year: 2015

Authors: Barbarino S., Taddia L., Rossini D., Mazza L., Fazio R.,

Autors Affiliation: Scuola Normale Super Pisa, NEST, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; Ist Nanosci CNR, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; Scuola Normale Super Pisa, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; CNR Ist Nazl Ott, UOS Firenze LENS, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract: The joint action of a magnetic field and of interactions is crucial for the appearance of exotic quantum phenomena, such as the quantum Hall effect. Owing to their rich nuclear structure, equivalent to an additional synthetic dimension, one-dimensional alkaline-earth(-like) fermionic gases with synthetic gauge potential and atomic contact repulsion may display similar related properties. Here we show the existence and the features of a hierarchy of fractional insulating and conducting states by means of analytical and numerical methods. We demonstrate that the gapped states are characterized by density and magnetic order emerging solely for gases with effective nuclear spin I larger than 1/2, whereas the gapless phases can support helical modes. We finally argue that these states are related to an unconventional fractional quantum Hall effect in the thin-torus limit and that their properties can be studied in state-of-the-art laboratories.

Journal/Review: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

Volume: 6      Pages from: 8134-1  to: 8134-9

More Information: We gratefully acknowledge enlightening discussions with M. Burrello, A. Celi, M. Dalmonte, F. Gerbier, S. Manmana, M. Rizzi, E. Sela, A. Stern, H.-H. Tu and D. Vodola. We particularly thank the experimental group at LENS in Florence: G. Cappellini, J. Catani, L. Fallani, L. Livi, S. Mancini, G. Pagano and C. Sias for the discussion of the experimental details. L.T. and R.F. acknowledge financial support from the EU integrated project SIQS. D.R., L.M. and R.F. acknowledge the Italian MIUR through FIRB project RBFR12NLNA and through PRIN project 2010LLKJBX. L.M. acknowledges Regione Toscana POR FSE 2007-2013.
KeyWords: Quantum; Insulators; Fields; Atoms
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9134

Citations: 70
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