Hirokazu Miyake

Realizing the Harper Hamiltonian with Laser-Assisted Tunneling in Optical Lattices

We experimentally implement the Harper Hamiltonian for neutral particles in optical lattices using laser-assisted tunneling and a potential energy gradient provided by gravity or magnetic field gradients. This Hamiltonian describes the motion of charged particles in strong magnetic fields. Laser-assisted tunneling processes are characterized by studying the expansion of the atoms in the lattice. The band structure of this Hamiltonian should display Hofstadters butterfly. For fermions, this scheme should realize the quantum Hall effect and chiral edge states.

Spin Gradient Thermometry for Ultracold Atoms in Optical Lattices

We demonstrate spin gradient thermometry, a new general method of measuring the temperature of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. We realize a mixture of spins separated by a magnetic field gradient. Measurement of the width of the transition layer between the two spin domains serves as a new method of thermometry which is observed to work over a broad range of lattice depths and temperatures, including in the Mott insulator regime. We demonstrate the thermometry using ultracold rubidium atoms, and suggest that interesting spin physics can be realized in this system. The lowest measured temperature is 1 nK, indicating that the system has reached the quantum regime, where insulating shells are separated by superfluid layers.

Spin-Orbit Coupling and Quantum Spin Hall Effect for Neutral Atoms without Spin Flips

We propose a scheme which realizes spin-orbit coupling and the quantum spin Hall effect for neutral atoms in optical lattices without relying on near resonant laser light to couple different spin states. The spin-orbit coupling is created by modifying the motion of atoms in a spin-dependent way by laser recoil. The spin selectivity is provided by Zeeman shifts created with a magnetic field gradient. Alternatively, a quantum spin Hall Hamiltonian can be created by all-optical means using a period-tripling, spin-dependent superlattice.

Two-dimensionally confined topological edge states in photonic crystals

We present an all-dielectric photonic crystal structure that supports two-dimensionally confined helical topological edge states. The topological properties of the system are controlled by the crystal parameters. An interface between two regions of differing band topologies gives rise to topological edge states confined in a dielectric slab that propagate around sharp corners without backscattering. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain calculations show these edges to be confined in the out-of-plane direction by total internal reflection. Such nanoscale photonic crystal architectures could enable strong interactions between photonic edge states and quantum emitters.

Bragg Scattering as a Probe of Atomic Wave Functions and Quantum Phase Transitions in Optical Lattices

We have observed Bragg scattering of photons from quantum degenerate ^{87}Rb atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice. Bragg scattered light directly probes the microscopic crystal structure and atomic wave function whose position and momentum width is Heisenberg limited. The spatial coherence of the wave function leads to revivals in the Bragg scattered light due to the atomic Talbot effect. The decay of revivals across the superfluid to Mott insulator transition indicates the loss of superfluid coherence.

A topological quantum optics interface

Connecting quantum emitters Exploiting topological properties of a system allows certain properties to be protected against the disorder and scattering caused by defects. Barik et al. demonstrate a strong light-matter interaction in a topological photonic structure (see the Perspective by Amo). They created topological edge states at the interface between two photonic, topologically distinct regions and coupled them to a single quantum emitter. The chiral nature of single-photon emission was used to inject single photons of opposite polarization into counterpropagating topological edge states. Such a topological quantum optics interface may provide a powerful platform for developing robust integrated quantum optical circuits. Science, this issue p. 666; see also p. 638 Light-matter coupling is achieved between topologically protected photonic edge states and a quantum emitter. The application of topology in optics has led to a new paradigm in developing photonic devices with robust properties against disorder. Although considerable progress on topological phenomena has been achieved in the classical domain, the realization of strong light-matter coupling in the quantum domain remains unexplored. We demonstrate a strong interface between single quantum emitters and topological photonic states. Our approach creates robust counterpropagating edge states at the boundary of two distinct topological photonic crystals. We demonstrate the chiral emission of a quantum emitter into these modes and establish their robustness against sharp bends. This approach may enable the development of quantum optics devices with built-in protection, with potential applications in quantum simulation and sensing.

Adiabatic cooling of bosons in lattices to magnetically ordered quantum states

We suggest and analyze a scheme to adiabatically cool bosonic atoms to picokelvin temperatures which should allow the observation of magnetic ordering via superexchange in optical lattices. The starting point is a gapped phase called the spin Mott phase, where each site is occupied by one spin-up and one spin-down atom. An adiabatic ramp leads to an xy-ferromagnetic phase. We show that the combination of time-dependent density matrix renormalization group methods with quantum trajectories can be used to fully address possible experimental limitations due to decoherence, and demonstrate that the magnetic correlations are robust for experimentally realizable ramp speeds. Using a microscopic master equation treatment of light scattering in the many-particle system, we test the robustness of adiabatic state preparation against decoherence. Due to different ground-state symmetries, we also find a metastable state with xy-ferromagnetic order if the ramp crosses to regimes where the ground state is a z ferromagnet. The bosonic spin Mott phase as the initial gapped state for adiabatic cooling has many features in common with a fermionic band insulator, but the use of bosons should enable experiments with substantially lower initial entropies.

Observation of edge states at telecom wavelengths in a nanoscale topological photonic crystal

Topological photonics [1] is a burgeoning field of photonics due to its potential in realizing robust propagation of light for chip-scale optical communications [2] as well as novel phenomena such as fractional quantum Hall states by engineering the photonic edge states to interact with quantum emitters [3]. Towards these goals and building upon previous work [4], we have designed an all-dielectric nanoscale photonic crystal which supports topological edge states and experimentally observed the transmission of edge states near 1500 nm.

Design for dielectric slab photonic crystals to realize topological edge states

We propose a design for nanoscale dielectric slab photonic crystals that possess topological edge states. Finite-difference-time-domain simulations show controllable directional light propagation with circularly-polarized dipole excitations and backscattering-free propagation around sharp corners.

Realization of the Harper Hamiltonian with Ultracold Atoms in Optical Lattices

We experimentally realized the Harper Hamiltonian with charge neutral, ultracold atoms in optical lattices using laser-assisted tunneling and a potential energy gradient. The energy spectrum of this Hamiltonian is the fractal Hofstadter butterfly.