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SUMMARY:Exploring many-body physics and geometry using ultracold atoms in optical superlattices
DESCRIPTION:The Bloch band theory provides a theoretical backbone for understanding material properties. A dramatic example is the existence of dispersionless flat bands that emerge in certain lattice geometries. Since any finite interaction strength becomes the dominant energy scale in flat band systems, they provide an interesting playground for studying many-body effects. Beyond the band structure, the knowledge of how the Bloch states themselves vary within the Brillouin zone is also consequential to the properties of a material. Notable examples include topological insulators and optical transitions between different bands. This has lead to a growing effort to characterize different topological and geometrical properties, such as the Chern number and the Berry connection, with progress reported in solid state materials, photonic structures, ultracold atoms, and other platforms.The ability to tune system parameters dynamically with high precision and tunability makes ultracold atoms in optical lattices an ideal platform for studying these effects. In this talk, I will first show evidence that the flat band of kagome lattices becomes dispersive due to nonlinear interactions between bosons, and provide an explanation through the renormalization of the band structure under mean field interactions. I will then present results on the characterization of the band geometry of honeycomb lattices, including the measurement of the quantum distance around band touching points using parallel transport of bosons, and a momentum-resolved measurement of the interband Berry connection using noninteracting fermions in a lattice driven by resonant shaking pulses.
LOCATION:Innsbruck
DTSTART:20260309T130000
DTEND:20260309T140000
TZID: Europe/Vienna
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