Measuring topology from dynamics by obtaining the Chern number from a linking number

Matthias Tarnowski, F. Nur Ünal, Nick Fläschner, Benno S. Rem, André Eckardt, Klaus Sengstock () and Christof Weitenberg
Additional contact information
Matthias Tarnowski: Universität Hamburg
F. Nur Ünal: Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
Nick Fläschner: Universität Hamburg
Benno S. Rem: Universität Hamburg
André Eckardt: Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
Klaus Sengstock: Universität Hamburg
Christof Weitenberg: Universität Hamburg

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Integer-valued topological indices, characterizing nonlocal properties of quantum states of matter, are known to directly predict robust physical properties of equilibrium systems. The Chern number, e.g., determines the quantized Hall conductivity of an insulator. Using non-interacting fermionic atoms in a periodically driven optical lattice, here we demonstrate experimentally that the Chern number determines also the far-from-equilibrium dynamics of a quantum system. Extending a respective proposal to Floquet systems, we measure the linking number that characterizes the trajectories of momentum-space vortices emerging after a strong quench. We observe that it directly corresponds to the ground-state Chern number. This one-to-one relation between a dynamical and a static topological index allows us to experimentally map out the phase diagram of our system. Furthermore, we measure the instantaneous Chern number and show that it remains zero under the unitary dynamics.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09668-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-09668-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09668-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().