Cold atoms in non-Abelian gauge potentials: from the Hofstadter "moth" to lattice gauge theory.
We demonstrate how to create artificial external non-Abelian gauge potentials acting on cold atoms in optical lattices. The method employs atoms with k internal states, and laser assisted state sensitive tunneling, described by unitary k x k matrices. The single-particle dynamics in the case of intense U2 vector potentials lead to a generalized Hofstadter butterfly spectrum which shows a complex mothlike structure. We discuss the possibility to realize non-Abelian interferometry (Aharonov-Bohm effect) and to study many-body dynamics of ultracold matter in external lattice gauge fields.
Osterloh
K
K
Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Hannover, D-30167 Hannover, Germany.
Baig
M
M
Santos
L
L
Zoller
P
P
Lewenstein
M
M