title: Probe of three-dimensional chiral topological insulators in an optical lattice.
abstract: We propose a feasible experimental scheme to realize a three-dimensional chiral topological insulator with cold fermionic atoms in an optical lattice, which is characterized by an integer topological invariant distinct from the conventional Z(2) topological insulators and has a remarkable macroscopic zero-energy flat band. To probe its property, we show that its characteristic surface states--the Dirac cones--can be probed through time-of-flight imaging or Bragg spectroscopy and the flat band can be detected via measurement of the atomic density profile in a weak global trap. The realization of this novel topological phase with a flat band in an optical lattice will provide a unique experimental platform to study the interplay between interaction and topology and open new avenues for application of topological states.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA and Center for Quantum Information, IIIS, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: S-T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA and Center for Quantum Information, IIIS, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: D-L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA and Center for Quantum Information, IIIS, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: L-M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Duan