arXiv subjects

Yuchen Yue

Publications and source records attributed to Yuchen Yue.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Wilson loop and Wilczek-Zee phase from a non-Abelian gauge field

Quantum states can acquire a geometric phase called the Berry phase after adiabatically traversing a closed loop, which depends on the path not the rate of motion. The Berry phase is analogous to the Aharonov-Bohm phase derived from the electromagnetic vector potential, and can be expressed in terms of an Abelian gauge potential called the Berry connection. Wilczek and Zee extended this concept to include non-Abelian phases -- characterized by the gauge independent Wilson loop -- resulting from non-Abelian gauge potentials. Using an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate, we quantum-engineered a non-Abelian SU(2) gauge field, generated by a Yang monopole located at the origin of a 5-dimensional parameter space. By slowly encircling the monopole, we characterized the Wilczek-Zee phase in terms of the Wilson loop, that depended on the solid-angle subtended by the encircling path: a generalization of Stokes' theorem. This observation marks the observation of the Wilson loop resulting from a non-Abelian point source.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2019

Spatial coherence of spin-orbit-coupled Bose gases

Spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates (SOBECs) exhibit two new phases of matter, now known as the stripe and plane-wave phases. When two interacting spin components of a SOBEC spatially overlap, density modulations with periodicity given by the spin-orbit coupling strength appear. In equilibrium, these components fully overlap in the miscible stripe phase, and overlap only in a domain wall in the immiscible plane-wave phase. Here we probe the density modulation present in any overlapping region with optical Bragg scattering, and observe the sudden drop of Bragg scattering as the overlapping region shrinks. Using an atomic analogue of the Talbot effect, we demonstrate the existence of long-range coherence between the different spin components in the stripe phase and surprisingly even in the phase-separated plane-wave phase.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Observation of a non-Abelian Yang Monopole: From New Chern Numbers to a Topological Transition

Because global topological properties are robust against local perturbations, understanding and manipulating the topological properties of physical systems is essential in advancing quantum science and technology. For quantum computation, topologically protected qubit operations can increase computational robustness, and for metrology the quantized Hall effect directly defines the von Klitzing constant. Fundamentally, topological order is generated by singularities called topological defects in extended spaces, and is quantified in terms of Chern numbers, each of which measures different sorts of fields traversing surfaces enclosing these topological singularities. Here, inspired by high energy theories, we describe our synthesis and characterization of a singularity present in non-Abelian gauge theories - a Yang monopole - using atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in a five-dimensional space, and quantify the monopole in terms of Chern numbers measured on enclosing manifolds. While the well-known 1st Chern number vanished, the 2nd Chern number, measured for the first time in any physical settings, did not. By displacing the manifold, we then observed a phase transition from "topological" to "trivial" as the monopole left the manifold.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗