Probing disorder-driven topological phase transitions via topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in Floquet-engineered honeycomb lattices

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Main Authors: Hesse, Alexander, Arceri, Johannes, Hornung, Moritz, Braun, Christoph, Aidelsburger, Monika
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Hesse, Alexander
Arceri, Johannes
Hornung, Moritz
Braun, Christoph
Aidelsburger, Monika
author_facet Hesse, Alexander
Arceri, Johannes
Hornung, Moritz
Braun, Christoph
Aidelsburger, Monika
contents One of the most fascinating properties of topological phases of matter is their robustness to disorder and imperfections. Although several experimental techniques have been developed to probe the geometric properties of engineered topological Bloch bands with cold atoms, they almost exclusively rely on the translational invariance of the underlying lattice. This prevents direct studies of topology in the presence of disorder, further hindering an extension to disordered interacting topological phases. Here, we identify disorder-driven phase transitions between two distinct Floquet topological phases using the characteristic properties of topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in periodically-driven two-dimensional (2D) optical lattices. Our results constitute an important step towards studying the rich interplay between topology and disorder with cold atoms. Moreover, our measurements confirm that disorder indeed favors the anomalous Floquet topological regime over conventional Hall systems, indicating an enhanced robustness and paving the way towards observing exotic out-of-equilibrium phases such as the anomalous Floquet Anderson insulator.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_20154
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing disorder-driven topological phase transitions via topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in Floquet-engineered honeycomb lattices
Hesse, Alexander
Arceri, Johannes
Hornung, Moritz
Braun, Christoph
Aidelsburger, Monika
Quantum Gases
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
One of the most fascinating properties of topological phases of matter is their robustness to disorder and imperfections. Although several experimental techniques have been developed to probe the geometric properties of engineered topological Bloch bands with cold atoms, they almost exclusively rely on the translational invariance of the underlying lattice. This prevents direct studies of topology in the presence of disorder, further hindering an extension to disordered interacting topological phases. Here, we identify disorder-driven phase transitions between two distinct Floquet topological phases using the characteristic properties of topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in periodically-driven two-dimensional (2D) optical lattices. Our results constitute an important step towards studying the rich interplay between topology and disorder with cold atoms. Moreover, our measurements confirm that disorder indeed favors the anomalous Floquet topological regime over conventional Hall systems, indicating an enhanced robustness and paving the way towards observing exotic out-of-equilibrium phases such as the anomalous Floquet Anderson insulator.
title Probing disorder-driven topological phase transitions via topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in Floquet-engineered honeycomb lattices
topic Quantum Gases
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20154