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This study utilizes ultracold atoms in Floquet-engineered lattices to directly observe disorder-driven phase transitions between distinct topological phases, overcoming previous limitations imposed by translational invariance. The findings demonstrate that disorder can enhance the robustness of anomalous Floquet topological regimes, providing a critical experimental pathway toward realizing exotic out-of-equilibrium states like the anomalous Floquet Anderson insulator. By bridging the gap between theoretical topology and disordered systems, this work advances our understanding of non-equilibrium quantum matter using atomic platforms.
Probing disorder-driven topological phase transitions via topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in Floquet-engineered honeycomb lattices
arXiv:2508.20154v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: One of the most fascinating properties of topological phases of matter is their robustness to disorder and imperfections. Although several experimental techniques have been developed to probe the geometric properties of engineered topological Bloch bands with cold atoms, they almost exclusively rely on the translational invariance of the underlying lattice. This prevents direct studies of topology in the presence of disorder, further hindering an extension to disordered interacting topological phases. Here, we identify disorder-driven phase transitions between two distinct Floquet topological phases using the characteristic properties of topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in periodically-driven two-dimensional (2D) optical lattices. Our results constitute an important step towards studying the rich interplay between topology and disorder with cold atoms. Moreover, our measurements confirm that disorder indeed favors the anomalous Floquet topological regime over conventional Hall systems, indicating an enhanced robustness and paving the way towards observing exotic out-of-equilibrium phases such as the anomalous Floquet Anderson insulator.
Abstract:One of the most fascinating properties of topological phases of matter is their robustness to disorder and imperfections. Although several experimental techniques have been developed to probe the geometric properties of engineered topological Bloch bands with cold atoms, they almost exclusively rely on the translational invariance of the underlying lattice. This prevents direct studies of topology in the presence of disorder, further hindering an extension to disordered interacting topological phases. Here, we identify disorder-driven phase transitions between two distinct Floquet topological phases using the characteristic properties of topological edge modes with ultracold atoms in periodically-driven two-dimensional (2D) optical lattices. Our results constitute an important step towards studying the rich interplay between topology and disorder with cold atoms. Moreover, our measurements confirm that disorder indeed favors the anomalous Floquet topological regime over conventional Hall systems, indicating an enhanced robustness and paving the way towards observing exotic out-of-equilibrium phases such as the anomalous Floquet Anderson insulator.
Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas); Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
arXiv:2508.20154 [cond-mat.quant-gas]
(or arXiv:2508.20154v2 [cond-mat.quant-gas] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.20154 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite
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