Simulation of the Laughlin state in an optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper investigates the feasibility of creating a Laughlin state in an optical lattice, accounting for anharmonic effects, and finds it remains achievable under realistic conditions for small particle numbers.

Contribution

It extends previous proposals by including anharmonic corrections, showing the Laughlin state can still be realized in practical experimental setups.

Findings

Anharmonic corrections lower the maximum rotation frequency before atom escape.

Laughlin states are achievable with small particle numbers and realistic laser intensities.

The centrifugal limit is affected but does not prevent state realization.

Abstract

We analyze the proposal of achieving a Mott state of Laughlin wave functions in an optical lattice [M. Popp {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. A 70, 053612 (2004)] and study the consequences of considering the anharmonic corrections to each single site potential expansion that were not taken into account until now. Our result is that, although the anharmonic correction reduces the maximum frequency at which the system can rotate before the atoms escape from each site (centrifugal limit), the Laughlin state can still be achieved for a small number of particles and a realistic value of the laser intensity.