Immanuel Bloch, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
From Topological Bloch Bands to Long-Range Interacting Rydberg Gases - New Frontiers for Ultracold Atoms
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices have enabled to probe strongly interacting many-body phases in new parameter regimes and with powerful new observation techniques. In my talk, I will discuss recent results from our team regarding the realization of artificial gauge fields and topological Bloch bands in ultracold atoms - ranging from the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger to the Hofstadter model, the local measurement of Berry curvature in an Aharanov-Bohm type atom interferometer to the direct measurement of the Chern number with bosonic atoms. Furthermore, I will discuss new results on quantum magnetism with ultracold atoms focusing on the realization of novel long-range interacting spin models using Rydberg gases that allow the generation of new phases of matter, among them the dynamical crystallization of Rydberg atoms.