Generation of uniform synthetic magnetic fields by split driving of an optical lattice

Abstract

We describe a method to generate a synthetic gauge potential for ultracold atoms held in an optical lattice. Our approach uses a time-periodic driving potential based on two quickly alternating signals to engineer the appropriate Aharonov-Bohm phases, and permits the simulation of a uniform tunable magnetic field. We explicitly demonstrate that our split driving scheme reproduces the behavior of a charged quantum particle in a magnetic field over the complete range of field strengths, and obtain the Hofstadter butterfly band-structure for the Floquet quasienergies at high fluxes.

5 pages, 3 eps figures