Wilson fermions and axion electrodynamics in optical lattices

We show that ultracold Fermi gases in optical superlattices can be used as quantum simulators of relativistic lattice fermions in 3+1 dimensions. By exploiting laser-assisted tunneling, we find an analogue of the so-called naive Dirac fermions, and thus provide a realization of the fermion doubling...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2010-11, Vol.105 (19), p.190404-190404, Article 190404
Main Authors: Bermudez, A, Mazza, L, Rizzi, M, Goldman, N, Lewenstein, M, Martin-Delgado, M A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AXIONS
BOSONS
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ELECTRODYNAMICS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
FERMI GAS
FERMIONS
GOLDSTONE BOSONS
LASER RADIATION
MATHEMATICS
PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
POSTULATED PARTICLES
RADIATIONS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SUPERLATTICES
TOPOLOGY
TUNING
TUNNEL EFFECT
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Summary:We show that ultracold Fermi gases in optical superlattices can be used as quantum simulators of relativistic lattice fermions in 3+1 dimensions. By exploiting laser-assisted tunneling, we find an analogue of the so-called naive Dirac fermions, and thus provide a realization of the fermion doubling problem. Moreover, we show how to implement Wilson fermions, and discuss how their mass can be inverted by tuning the laser intensities. In this regime, our atomic gas corresponds to a phase of matter where Maxwell electrodynamics is replaced by axion electrodynamics: a 3D topological insulator.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.105.190404