Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice with Raman-assisted two-dimensional spin-orbit coupling

TL;DR

This paper investigates the effects of high-lying energy bands on a Bose-Einstein condensate with Raman-assisted 2D spin-orbit coupling in an optical lattice, revealing enhanced phases and topological boundaries.

Contribution

It introduces an effective two-band model that captures high-band effects in Raman-assisted lattice spin-orbit coupled systems, advancing understanding of their properties.

Findings

High-band effects enhance the plane-wave phase.

Emergence of 'roton' gaps at low Zeeman fields.

Identification of high-band-induced topological phase boundaries.

Abstract

In a recent experiment by Wu {\textit et al.} (arXiv:1511.08170), a Raman-assisted two-dimensional spin-orbit coupling has been realized for a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice potential. In light of this exciting progress, we study in detail key properties of the system. As the Raman lasers inevitably couple atoms to high-lying bands, the behaviors of the system in both the single- and many-particle sectors are significantly affected. In particular, the high-band effects enhance the plane-wave phase and lead to the emergence of "roton" gaps at low Zeeman fields. Furthermore, we identify high-band-induced topological phase boundaries in both the single-particle and the quasi-particle spectra. We then derive an effective two-band model, which captures the high-band physics in the experimentally relevant regime. Our results not only offer valuable insights into the novel two-dimensional lattice spin-orbit coupling, but also provide a systematic formalism to model high-band effects in lattice systems with Raman-assisted spin-orbit couplings.