Quantum gas microscopy of the anyon-Hubbard model

Abstract

Low-dimensional quantum systems can host anyons, particles with exchange statistics that are neither bosonic nor fermionic. However, the physics of one-dimensional (1D) anyons remains largely unexplored. Using ultracold bosonic Rb-87 atoms in an optical lattice, we realize and explore the anyon-Hubbard model, which hosts 1D anyons and features a rich phase diagram. We implement the model using techniques from Floquet engineering, realizing the statistical phase in the form of a density-dependent Peierls phase. Using our high-resolution imaging system, we explore both the dynamical and ground state behavior in the anyon-Hubbard model. In the first set of experiments, we probe 1D anyons via two-particle quantum walks, observing the anyonic Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect, as well as the formation of bound states without on-site interactions. Once interactions are introduced, we observe spatially asymmetric transport in contrast to the symmetric dynamics of bosons and fermions. In the next set of experiments, we adiabatically prepare and probe ground states in the anyon-Hubbard model. First, we observe continuous fermionization in the density profile with increasing statistical phase. Then, we probe the chirality of the bound states in the anyon-Hubbard model, drawing similarities to a continuum model of 1D anyons. This work constitutes the first experimental study of the anyon-Hubbard model, and lays the foundation for exploration in the strongly correlated many-body regime.