Seminarium Optyczne

In the last decades, topological insulators have attracted great interest and also have promising applicationsin topics such as metrology or quantum computation. These exotic materials go beyond the standardclassification of phases of matter: they are insulating in their bulk, conducting on their edges, andcharacterized by a global topological invariant, in contrast to a local order parameter as in the conventionalGinzburg-Landau theory of phases of matter. Such topological phases have been experimentally observed incondensed matter systems and more recently in quantum simulators. The latter are very versatile platformsthat allow one to simulate a material with another quantum system in a very controllable environment. In thecase of topological insulators, this degree of control is particularly promising to unveil the mechanismsleading to these phases. The quantum simulation of these exotic materials typically relies on the generationof artificial gauge fields. However, recent studies have shown that topological phases can also emerge fromparticle interactions. The latter mechanism leads to the concept of interaction-induced topological phases, inwhich topology is acquired through a spontaneous symmetry breaking process. The interplay of thespontaneous symmetry breaking with the global topological properties can lead to very interesting effects.In this talk, I will discuss how such interplay can lead to new strongly-correlated topological effects ina 2D material. In particular, I will show how interactions can localize particles in the insulating bulk atincommensurate fillings, leading to self-trapped polarons. Furthermore at higher filling, the interactingnature of the topological insulator gives rise to domains in the bulk. Interestingly, the nontrivial topologyassociated to each domain leads to the appearance of protected conducting states in the bulk, localized at thedomain boundaries. Finally, I will discuss the possibility of quantum simulating such phases with cold laserexcitedRydberg atoms in an optical lattice.

seminarium z użyciem połączenia internetowegohttps://zoom.us/j/97696726563(meeting ID: ID 97696726563, password: 314297)