Kennedy, Colin

Monday Sept 30, 2013
Time: 11:00
Place: ETH Science City, HPF G6
Host: Michael Messer/Tilman Esslinger

Realizing the Harper Hamiltonian with Laser-Assisted Tunneling

Colin Kennedy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

In this talk I will discuss the proposal and realization of arbitrarily high, uniform effective magnetic fields for ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. The system is described by the Harper Hamiltonian, the spectrum of which is the fractal Hofstadter's Butterfly. Including a spin degree of freedom, the system should demonstrate spin-orbit coupling without spin-flipping Raman lasers and the spin Hall effect. Finally, I will discuss how the general method of laser-assisted tunneling in a tilted lattice proves to be a rich system for quantum simulation.

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