A Two-dimensional Algebraic Quantum Liquid Produced by an Atomic Simulator of the Quantum Lifshitz Model

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that ultra cold atoms with synthetic spin-orbit coupling can create a two-dimensional algebraic quantum liquid at the ground state, providing a practical platform to study quantum Lifshitz physics and topological excitations.

Contribution

It introduces a simple experimental scheme to realize a 2D algebraic quantum liquid at the ground state using ultra cold atoms, advancing quantum simulation capabilities.

Findings

Realization of a 2D algebraic quantum liquid at the ground state.

Observation of properties near a Lifshitz critical point.

Visualization of deconfinement transition of topological excitations.

Abstract

Bosons have a natural instinct to condense at zero temperature. It is a long-standing challenge to create a high-dimensional quantum liquid that does not exhibit long-range order at the ground state, as either extreme experimental parameters or sophisticated designs of microscopic Hamiltonian are required for suppressing the condensation. Here, we show that ultra cold atoms with synthetic spin-orbit coupling provide physicists a simple and practical scheme to produce a two-dimensional algebraic quantum liquid at the ground state. This quantum liquid arises at a critical Lifshitz point, where the single-particle ground state shrinks to a point from a circle in the momentum space, and many fundamental properties of two-dimensional bosons are changed in its proximity. Such an ideal simulator of the quantum Lifshitz model allows experimentalists to directly visualize and explore the deconfinement transition of topological excitations, an intriguing phenomenon that is difficult to access in other systems.