Observation of the topological Anderson insulator in disordered atomic wires

Topology and disorder have a rich combined influence on quantum transport. To probe their interplay, we synthesized one-dimensional chiral symmetric wires with controllable disorder via spectroscopic Hamiltonian engineering, based on the laser-driven coupling of discrete momentum states of ultracold...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2018-11, Vol.362 (6417), p.929-933
Main Authors: Meier, Eric J, An, Fangzhao Alex, Dauphin, Alexandre, Maffei, Maria, Massignan, Pietro, Hughes, Taylor L, Gadway, Bryce
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic interactions
Band structure of solids
Fluctuations
Física
Física de fluids
Lattice sites
Momentum
Nanowires
Phase transitions
Quantum theory
Quantum transport
Quàntums, Teoria dels
Rubidium
Spectroscopy
Stability
Topology
Wire
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC
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Summary:Topology and disorder have a rich combined influence on quantum transport. To probe their interplay, we synthesized one-dimensional chiral symmetric wires with controllable disorder via spectroscopic Hamiltonian engineering, based on the laser-driven coupling of discrete momentum states of ultracold atoms. Measuring the bulk evolution of a topological indicator after a sudden quench, we observed the topological Anderson insulator phase, in which added disorder drives the band structure of a wire from topologically trivial to nontrivial. In addition, we observed the robustness of topologically nontrivial wires to weak disorder and measured the transition to a trivial phase in the presence of strong disorder. Atomic interactions in this quantum simulation platform may enable realizations of strongly interacting topological fluids.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aat3406