Fractional Chern insulator with higher Chern number in optical lattice

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Ding, Ying-Xing, Li, Wen-Tong, Zhang, Li-Min, Wu, Yu-Biao, Zhou, Duanlu, Zhuang, Lin, Liu, Wu-Ming
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Ding, Ying-Xing
Li, Wen-Tong
Zhang, Li-Min
Wu, Yu-Biao
Zhou, Duanlu
Zhuang, Lin
Liu, Wu-Ming
author_facet Ding, Ying-Xing
Li, Wen-Tong
Zhang, Li-Min
Wu, Yu-Biao
Zhou, Duanlu
Zhuang, Lin
Liu, Wu-Ming
contents Fractional Chern insulators arise in topologically nontrivial flat bands, characterized by an integer Chern number C that corresponds to the number of dissipationless edge states in the non-interacting regime. Higher Chern numbers can replicate the physics of higher Landau levels and often confer enhanced topological robustness. However, realizing correlated fractional phases with higher Chern numbers in such flat band systems remains challenging. Here, we propose an interlayer coupling scheme to generate higher Chern numbers in a flat-band system, where the interlayer coupling transforms two C = 1 bands in a bilayer checkerboard lattice into a single flat band with C = 2 by lifting their degeneracy and merging their topological indices. Exact diagonalization calculation reveals that this engineered band hosts two fractional Chern insulator states with C = 2/3 and 2/5, respectively. An experimental setup is proposed to simulate these states using cold alkaline-earth-like atoms in an effective bilayer optical lattice. Our work provides a general and widely applicable strategy for constructing higher Chern number flat bands, opening a pathway to explore exotic fractional quantum phases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_16459
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fractional Chern insulator with higher Chern number in optical lattice
Ding, Ying-Xing
Li, Wen-Tong
Zhang, Li-Min
Wu, Yu-Biao
Zhou, Duanlu
Zhuang, Lin
Liu, Wu-Ming
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Fractional Chern insulators arise in topologically nontrivial flat bands, characterized by an integer Chern number C that corresponds to the number of dissipationless edge states in the non-interacting regime. Higher Chern numbers can replicate the physics of higher Landau levels and often confer enhanced topological robustness. However, realizing correlated fractional phases with higher Chern numbers in such flat band systems remains challenging. Here, we propose an interlayer coupling scheme to generate higher Chern numbers in a flat-band system, where the interlayer coupling transforms two C = 1 bands in a bilayer checkerboard lattice into a single flat band with C = 2 by lifting their degeneracy and merging their topological indices. Exact diagonalization calculation reveals that this engineered band hosts two fractional Chern insulator states with C = 2/3 and 2/5, respectively. An experimental setup is proposed to simulate these states using cold alkaline-earth-like atoms in an effective bilayer optical lattice. Our work provides a general and widely applicable strategy for constructing higher Chern number flat bands, opening a pathway to explore exotic fractional quantum phases.
title Fractional Chern insulator with higher Chern number in optical lattice
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16459