Introduction to the physics of artificial gauge fields

TL;DR

This paper reviews how artificial gauge fields can be simulated in cold atomic gases using atom-light interactions, enabling the study of magnetic phenomena in neutral atom systems.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of schemes to create artificial gauge fields in cold gases, connecting concepts of magnetism with experimental implementations.

Findings

Various schemes for generating artificial gauge fields are detailed.

Connections between gauge invariance, Landau levels, and topological bands are explained.

Implications for simulating magnetic effects in cold atom setups are discussed.

Abstract

Simulating magnetic effects with cold gases of neutral atoms is a challenge. Since these atoms have no charge, one needs to create artificial gauge fields by taking advantage of the geometric phases that can result for instance from atom-light interaction. We review here some schemes that lead to the desired Hamiltonians, either in a bulk geometry or in a lattice configuration. We also detail the relations between some general concepts of magnetism, such as gauge invariance, Landau levels, topological bands, and the features that can be generated in cold atoms setups.