Rubidium Lab
Microscopy of the interacting Harper-Hofstadter model in the two-body limit
Nature 546, 519-523 (2017) arXiv:1612.05631v1
We observe and explain the way in which interparticle interactions induce chirality in the propagation dynamics of particles in a ladder-like, real-space lattice governed by the interacting HarperHofstadter model, which describes lattice-confined, coherently mobile particles in the presence of a magnetic field. We use a bottom-up strategy to prepare interacting chiral quantum states, thus circumventing the challenges of a top-down approach that begins with a many-body system, the size of which can hinder the preparation of controlled states. Our experimental platform combines all of the necessary components for investigating highly entangled topological states, and our observations provide a benchmark for future experiments in the fractional quantum Hall regime.