Many-Body Dynamics and Gap Opening in Interacting Periodically Driven Systems

Ervand Kandelaki; Mark S. Rudner

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.036801

Many-Body Dynamics and Gap Opening in Interacting Periodically Driven Systems

Ervand Kandelaki, Mark S. Rudner

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We study transient dynamics in a two-dimensional system of interacting Dirac fermions subject to a quenched drive with circularly polarized light. In the absence of interactions, the drive opens a gap at the Dirac point in the quasienergy spectrum, inducing nontrivial band topology. We investigate the dynamics of this gap opening process, taking into account the essential role of electron-electron interactions. Crucially, scattering due to interactions (1) induces dephasing, which erases memory of the system's prequench state and yields the intrinsic timescale for gap emergence, and (2) provides a mechanism for the system to absorb energy of the drive, leading to heating which must be mitigated to ensure the success of Floquet band engineering. We characterize the gap opening process via the system's generalized spectral function and correlators probed by photoemission experiments, and we identify a parameter regime at moderate driving frequencies where a hierarchy of timescales allows a well-defined Floquet gap to be produced and studied before the deleterious effects of heating set in.

Original language	English
Article number	036801
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	121
Issue number	3
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0031-9007
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.036801
Publication status	Published - 16 Jul 2018

Access to Document

10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.036801

PhysRevLett.121.036801Final published version, 870 KB

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1709.04448.pdfLicence: Other

Cite this

@article{df6d7b85c4914ffb81b646e0ef02696f,

title = "Many-Body Dynamics and Gap Opening in Interacting Periodically Driven Systems",

abstract = "We study transient dynamics in a two-dimensional system of interacting Dirac fermions subject to a quenched drive with circularly polarized light. In the absence of interactions, the drive opens a gap at the Dirac point in the quasienergy spectrum, inducing nontrivial band topology. We investigate the dynamics of this gap opening process, taking into account the essential role of electron-electron interactions. Crucially, scattering due to interactions (1) induces dephasing, which erases memory of the system's prequench state and yields the intrinsic timescale for gap emergence, and (2) provides a mechanism for the system to absorb energy of the drive, leading to heating which must be mitigated to ensure the success of Floquet band engineering. We characterize the gap opening process via the system's generalized spectral function and correlators probed by photoemission experiments, and we identify a parameter regime at moderate driving frequencies where a hierarchy of timescales allows a well-defined Floquet gap to be produced and studied before the deleterious effects of heating set in.",

author = "Ervand Kandelaki and Rudner, {Mark S.}",

note = "[Qdev]",

year = "2018",

month = jul,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.036801",

language = "English",

volume = "121",

journal = "Physical Review Letters",

issn = "0031-9007",

publisher = "American Physical Society",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Many-Body Dynamics and Gap Opening in Interacting Periodically Driven Systems

AU - Kandelaki, Ervand

AU - Rudner, Mark S.

N1 - [Qdev]

PY - 2018/7/16

Y1 - 2018/7/16

N2 - We study transient dynamics in a two-dimensional system of interacting Dirac fermions subject to a quenched drive with circularly polarized light. In the absence of interactions, the drive opens a gap at the Dirac point in the quasienergy spectrum, inducing nontrivial band topology. We investigate the dynamics of this gap opening process, taking into account the essential role of electron-electron interactions. Crucially, scattering due to interactions (1) induces dephasing, which erases memory of the system's prequench state and yields the intrinsic timescale for gap emergence, and (2) provides a mechanism for the system to absorb energy of the drive, leading to heating which must be mitigated to ensure the success of Floquet band engineering. We characterize the gap opening process via the system's generalized spectral function and correlators probed by photoemission experiments, and we identify a parameter regime at moderate driving frequencies where a hierarchy of timescales allows a well-defined Floquet gap to be produced and studied before the deleterious effects of heating set in.

AB - We study transient dynamics in a two-dimensional system of interacting Dirac fermions subject to a quenched drive with circularly polarized light. In the absence of interactions, the drive opens a gap at the Dirac point in the quasienergy spectrum, inducing nontrivial band topology. We investigate the dynamics of this gap opening process, taking into account the essential role of electron-electron interactions. Crucially, scattering due to interactions (1) induces dephasing, which erases memory of the system's prequench state and yields the intrinsic timescale for gap emergence, and (2) provides a mechanism for the system to absorb energy of the drive, leading to heating which must be mitigated to ensure the success of Floquet band engineering. We characterize the gap opening process via the system's generalized spectral function and correlators probed by photoemission experiments, and we identify a parameter regime at moderate driving frequencies where a hierarchy of timescales allows a well-defined Floquet gap to be produced and studied before the deleterious effects of heating set in.

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.036801

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.036801

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30085807

AN - SCOPUS:85050404903

SN - 0031-9007

VL - 121

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

IS - 3

M1 - 036801

ER -

Many-Body Dynamics and Gap Opening in Interacting Periodically Driven Systems

Abstract

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this