André Eckardt

Date:  Thursday, August 10, 2017
Time:  13:00
Place:  ETH Zurich, Hönggerberg, HPF G 6
Hosts: Tilman Esslinger / Michael Messer

Time-periodically driven quantum gases: From dynamic localization to quantum Hall physics and the coherent control of interactions

André Eckardt
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik komplexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany

Time periodic forcing in the form of coherent radiation is a standard tool for the coherent control of small quantum systems like single atoms. In the last years, periodic driving has more and more also been considered as a means for the coherent manipulation of many-body systems.

In particular, experiments with atomic quantum gases in optical lattices subjected to driving in the lower kilohertz regime have attracted a lot of attention [see, e.g., RMP 89, 011004 (2017)]. Milestones include, i.a., the observation of dynamic localization, the coherent control of quantum phase transitions, and the realization of artificial gauge fields and topological band structures for charge-neutral atoms. It is the fact that atomic quantum gases are very well isolated from their environment and highly controllable in a time-dependent fashion that allowed for these recent advances.

I will give an introduction to the concept of Floquet engineering, which underlies these experiments, present various examples like the realization of artificial magnetic fields fields and the coherent control of interactions, and discuss also challenges related to interaction-induced heating.