Atom-based quantum simulators provide direct access to a broad range of many-body quantum states via their high tunability and control. Among these, topological states of matter have been a prominent field of research with the successfull engineering of topological bands. A main current goal is to prepare and study many-body phases with topological order, like the family of fractional Quantum Hall phases, or more generically strongly-correlated phases that break time-reversal symmetry.
We show that a viable route to generate strongly-interacting chiral phases can exploit the interplay between onsite interactions and flux frustration for bosons in dimerized optical lattices with pi-flux. By constructing an effective theory, we demonstrate how this setting favours the spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry. This can lead to the realization of the long-sought chiral Mott insulator phases, which we characterize via DMRG and variational calculations. Furthermore, dynamical properties like the chiral motion of impurities are identified via spectroscopy and quenches. Preliminary results show the appearance of collective modes, like Higgs modes, near criticality. Protocols to perform state preparation and current measurements will also be discussed.
References:
1) M. Di Liberto and N. Goldman, Phys. Rev. Research 5, 023064 (2023).
2) A. A. Stepanenko, M. Di Liberto, Phys. Rev. A (Letter) 110, L061304 (2024).
3) M. Lanaro et al., in preparation (2025).