Robust lattice manipulation beyond nearest-neighbor coupling by pulsed electric field

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an approach to manipulate a translation-invariant single-band tight-binding system beyond nearest-neighbor coupling. By using a sequence of multiple identical pulsed electric fields with specific strengths and calculated intervals, the propagator of the system can be fully controlled within an infinite space with dimensions given by the configuration of existing nonzero couplings. And if the sequence is repeated, the system evolution can then effectively simulate another system with a different array of hopping energies, provided that these hopping energies are already nonzero in the simulator. Moreover, the effective system's response to a wide range of additional influences, which are not required to be small, is also shown to approach that of the system it simulates in the limit of high kicking frequency. The simulation is therefore robust and the simulator can potentially be indistinguishable from the lattice it simulates. Considering the physical simplicity, this approach cannot only realize flexible experimental platforms for lattices beyond nearest-neighbor coupling, it is also potentially applicable to the manipulation of actual materials.