2015/05/27 by Bo Liu, Xiaopeng Li, W. Vincent Liu
Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #Fermion #MAJORANA #Optical lattice #Physics #Quantum #Quantum mechanics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Superfluidity #Symmetry protected topological order #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological entropy in physics #Topological insulator #Topological order #Topological quantum computer #Topological quantum number #Topology (electrical circuits) #Ultracold atom #cond-mat.quant-gas
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.93.033643
published as Phys. Rev. A 93, 033643 (2016) · 6 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2015/05/27 · openalex publication_date 2016/03/23 · arxiv updated 2016/03/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We propose a symmetry-based method of using noncentrosymmetric optical lattices to systematically control topological nontrivial orbital hybridization. A crucial difference from the previous studies is the role of inversion symmetry breaking, which is applied to induce an exotic orbital-changing hopping perpendicular to the direction without inversion symmetry and opens a band gap, instead of reducing the codimension and producing gapless points. The orbital mixing here is reminiscent of the spin-orbit physics based on hyperfine states but differs in symmetry and origin. This nontrivial orbital hybridization produces a topological band structure. Attractively interacting fermionic atoms loaded in such a lattice are found to show an orbital topological Fulde-Ferrell superfluid state in the presence of onsite rotation. This state supports Majorana fermions on its edges. Our mechanism should pave an alternative way to achieve orbital topological phases in optical lattices of nonstandard geometry.