Detecting Topological Transitions in Two Dimensions by Hamiltonian Evolution.

We show that the evolution of two-component particles governed by a two-dimensional spin-orbit lattice Hamiltonian can reveal transitions between topological phases. A kink in the mean width of the particle distribution signals the closing of the band gap, a prerequisite for a quantum phase transition between topological phases. Furthermore, for realistic and experimentally motivated Hamiltonians, the density profile in topologically nontrivial phases displays characteristic rings in the vicinity of the origin that are absent in trivial phases. The results are expected to have an immediate application to systems of ultracold atoms and photonic lattices.

Gaussian potentials facilitate access to quantum Hall states in rotating Bose gases.

Through exact numerical diagonalization for small numbers of atoms, we show that it is possible to access quantum Hall states in harmonically confined Bose gases at rotation frequencies well below the centrifugal limit by applying a repulsive Gaussian potential at the trap center. The main idea is to reduce or eliminate the effective trapping frequency in regions where the particle density is appreciable. The critical rotation frequency required to obtain the bosonic Laughlin state can be fixed at an experimentally accessible value by choosing an applied Gaussian whose amplitude increases linearly with the number of atoms while its width increases as the square root.

Perfect quantum state transfer with spinor bosons on weighted graphs.

A duality between the properties of many spinor bosons on a regular lattice and those of a single particle on a weighted graph reveals that a quantum particle can traverse an infinite hierarchy of networks with perfect probability in polynomial time, even as the number of nodes increases exponentially. The one-dimensional "quantum wire" and the hypercube are special cases in this construction, where the number of spin degrees of freedom is equal to one and the number of particles, respectively. An implementation of a near-perfect quantum state transfer across a weighted parallelepiped with ultracold atoms in optical lattices is discussed.

Vortex arrays in a rotating superfluid Fermi gas.

The behavior of a dilute two-component neutral superfluid Fermi gas subjected to rotation is investigated within the context of a weak-coupling BCS theory. The microscopic properties at finite temperature are obtained by iterating the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations to self-consistency. In the model, alkali atoms are strongly confined in quasi-two-dimensional traps produced by a deep one-dimensional optical lattice. The lattice depth significantly enhances the critical transition temperature and the critical rotation frequency at which the superfluidity ceases. As the rotation frequency increases, the triangular vortex arrays become increasingly irregular, indicating a quantum melting transition.