Emergent Kinetics and Fractionalized Charge in 1D Spin-Orbit Coupled Flatband Optical Lattices

TL;DR

This paper models 1D spin-orbit coupled fermions in flatband optical lattices, revealing interaction-driven emergent kinetics and fractionalized charge, akin to phenomena in fractional quantum Hall systems, offering a new platform for exotic quantum states.

Contribution

It introduces an effective Luttinger-liquid theory for flatband systems, demonstrating emergent collective excitations with fractionalized charge due to interactions.

Findings

Interactions induce emergent kinetics in flatband systems.

Fractionalized charge excitations are predicted in 1D spin-orbit coupled lattices.

Potential for observing exotic quantum states driven by interactions.

Abstract

Recent ultracold atomic gas experiments implementing synthetic spin-orbit coupling allow access to flatbands that emphasize interactions. We model spin-orbit coupled fermions in a one-dimensional flatband optical lattice. We introduce an effective Luttinger-liquid theory to show that interactions generate collective excitations with emergent kinetics and fractionalized charge, analogous to properties found in the two-dimensional fractional quantum Hall regime. Observation of these excitations would provide an important platform for exploring exotic quantum states derived solely from interactions.