Extracting the quantum metric tensor through periodic driving

TL;DR

This paper introduces a universal experimental protocol to measure the quantum metric tensor by linking excitation rates to geometric properties, applicable to various quantum systems including lattice models and two-level systems.

Contribution

The authors propose a novel, broadly applicable method to directly measure the quantum metric tensor using periodic driving, bridging a gap in experimental quantum geometry characterization.

Findings

Successfully applied to the Hofstadter model for quantum metric extraction

Demonstrated the method's ability to probe the spread functional and phase transitions

Applicable to diverse physical platforms like circuit-QED and ultracold gases

Abstract

We propose a generic protocol to experimentally measure the quantum metric tensor, a fundamental geometric property of quantum states. Our method is based on the observation that the excitation rate of a quantum state directly relates to components of the quantum metric upon applying a proper time-periodic modulation. We discuss the applicability of this scheme to generic two-level systems, where the Hamiltonian's parameters can be externally tuned, and also to the context of Bloch bands associated with lattice systems. As an illustration, we extract the quantum metric of the multi-band Hofstadter model. Moreover, we demonstrate how this method can be used to directly probe the spread functional, a quantity which sets the lower bound on the spread of Wannier functions and signals phase transitions. Our proposal offers a universal probe for quantum geometry, which could be readily applied in a wide range of physical settings, ranging from circuit-QED systems to ultracold atomic gases.