Flavour-selective localization in interacting lattice fermions
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: A large repulsion between particles in a quantum system can lead to their localization, an effect responsible for the Mott insulator phases in strongly correlated materials. In a system with multiple orbitals, an orbital-selective Mott insulator can form, where electrons in some orbitals are predicted to localize while others remain itinerant. Here we demonstrate a more general version of this phenomenon by observing flavour-selective localization in an atom-based quantum simulator. Our experiment realizes Fermi–Hubbard models with an SU(3) symmetry that can be broken using a tunable coupling between flavours. We observe an enhancement of the localization associated with a selective Mott transition and the emergence of flavour-dependent correlations. Our realization of flavour-selective Mott physics demonstrates the potential of cold atoms to simulate interacting multicomponent materials such as superconductors and topological insulators.
Source: Nature Physics
Institutions: European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, University of Florence, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Laboratoire de Physique et d’Étude des Matériaux, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Institute of Photonic Sciences, National Institute of Optics, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, National Research Council, Georgetown University, Università Campus Bio-Medico, Istituto Officina dei Materiali, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Firenze
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $11,390
Awards: Topology and symmetries in synthetic fermionic systems, G2043886427, Engineering coherent transport of atoms and electrons in layered structures (CEnTraL), Low dimensional quantum systems: theory, experiments and simulations., SIMULATING LONG-TIME EVOLUTION OF DRIVEN MANY-BODY SYSTEMS WITH NEXT GENERATION QUANTUM COMPUTERS, Controlling Multi-band Quantum Materials by Orbital Manipulation, G7663848844
OpenAlex ID: W4296691255