Physics (Internal)

Topology and Localization with Long-range Interactions

This event is part of the Condensed Matter Theory Seminar Series.

Abstract: The trapping of ultracold atomic gases has opened new windows into the quantum phases of neutral particles. A remarkable amount of pretty physics - Bose condensation, Cooper paired superfluidity and Mott localization - has been observed. Even more remarkably this has been done with interactions, which are typically short-ranged and weak.

Recent progress in the control of long-range interacting systems — polar molecules, Rydberg atoms and trapped ions — allows a completely different piece of physics to enter the game. In this talk, I will review the general setting and then give three examples of how long-range interactions can lead to new physics inaccessible in existing systems.

First, I will describe the adiabatic preparation of topologically ordered phases in driven, dipolar-interacting spin systems. Second, in the presence of strong disorder, I will show that these systems can directly explore physics beyond that of single particle Anderson localization and will comment on recent experiments. Finally, I will combine these stories and describe how localization can protect topological order far out-of-equilibrium.