Topological Physics with Atoms and Photons

Ideas from topology have generated a lot of excitement in the fields of condensed matter, cold atoms, and photonics because they can give rise to intriguing phenomena such as backscattering-free edge states and fractional quantum Hall states. Cold atoms and photonics are particularly well-suited to realize non-trivial topological states because of the flexibility they offer: cold atoms can take advantage of the precise measurement and control techniques developed in atomic physics, and photonics can take advantage of the precise nanofabrication techniques developed by the semiconductor industry.

In this talk, I will discuss the recent experimental realization with ultracold atoms of the Harper-Hofstadter Hamiltonian, a model describing the motion of electrons on a lattice in the presence of a strong magnetic field and which gives rise to non-trivial band topologies. Then I will describe on-going work at JQI to experimentally realize topological photonic crystals with the goal of studying interactions of topological light with quantum emitters in a solid-state, chip-scale system.