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

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.

Fei Lin, Chuanwei Zhang, V. W. Scarola · 2013