Imaginary magnetic fields for ultracold atoms
We propose a four-level scheme for generating a uniform imaginary magnetic field for ultracold atoms using Raman coupling and state-dependent particle losses. Eliminating two lossy auxiliary states and subsequently projecting onto one of the two remaining Raman-dressed atomic states, we find that the atomic motion is affected by an imaginary vector potential which is engineered to have a constant curl corresponding to a spatially uniform imaginary synthetic magnetic field. We analytically derive the Gaussian wavepacket dynamics for atoms in such a synthetic magnetic field and study the width-dependent transport, unlike motion in a uniform real magnetic field. We find numerical agreement between the two-level non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and the adiabatic projection description, confirming the applicability of the latter adiabatic approach.