Stabilizing the false vacuum: Mott skyrmions

Kanász-Nagy, Márton and Dóra, Balázs and Demler, E. A. and Zaránd, Gergely Attila (2015) Stabilizing the false vacuum: Mott skyrmions. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 5. ISSN 2045-2322

Preview

Text 1403.4242.pdf Download (877kB) | Preview

Abstract

Topological excitations keep fascinating physicists since many decades. While individual vortices and solitons emerge and have been observed in many areas of physics, their most intriguing higher dimensional topological relatives, skyrmions (smooth, topologically stable textures) and magnetic monopoles emerging almost necessarily in any grand unified theory and responsible for charge quantization remained mostly elusive. Here we propose that loading a three-component nematic superfluid such as Na-23 into a deep optical lattice and thereby creating an insulating core, one can create topologically stable skyrmion textures. The skyrmion's extreme stability and its compact geometry enable one to investigate the skyrmion's structure, and the interplay of topology and excitations in detail. In particular, the superfluid's excitation spectrum as well as the quantum numbers are demonstrated to change dramatically due to the skyrmion, and reflect the presence of a trapped monopole, as imposed by the skyrmion's topology.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item