Special issue on non-Abelian gauge fields

Abstract

Building a universal quantum computer is a central goal of emerging quantum technologies and it is expected to revolutionize science and technology. Unfortunately, this future does not seem very close, however, quantum computers built for a special purpose, i.e., quantum simulators, are currently being developed in many leading laboratories. Numerous schemes for quantum simulation have been proposed and realized using, e.g., ultracold atoms in optical lattices, ultracold trapped ions, atoms in arrays of cavities, atoms/ions in arrays of traps, quantum dots or superconducting circuits. The progress in experimental implementations is more than spectacular.Particularly interesting are those systems that simulate quantum matter evolving in artificial, or synthetic, Abelian or even non-Abelian gauge fields. Abelian gauge fields are analogues to the standard magnetic field and lead to fascinating effects such as the integer or fractional quantum Hall effects (IQHE, FQHE) and vortex lattices. Non-Abelian gauge fields couple the motional states of the particles to their internal degrees of freedom (such as hyperfine states for atoms or ions, electronic spins for electrons, etc). In this sense, external non-Abelian fields extend the concept of spin–orbit coupling, which is familiar from AMO and condensed matter physics. They lead to yet another variety of fascinating novel phenomena such as the quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE), 3D topological insulators, topological superconductors and superfluids of various kinds.Even more fascinating is the possibility of generating synthetic gauge fields that are dynamical, i.e., that evolve in time according to the corresponding lattice gauge theory (LGT). These dynamical gauge fields can also couple to matter fields, allowing the quantum simulation of such complex systems (notoriously hard to simulate using 'traditional' computers), which are particularly relevant for modern high-energy physics. So far there are only theoretical proposals for simulating Abelian LGTs, but many groups are working on extensions to the non-Abelian scenarios.The scope of this special issue of Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics is on all of these developments, with particular emphasis on the non-Abelian case. We invite the leading theory and experimental groups to contribute to this very special issue of the journal in order to provide a reference collection for quantum simulations of gauge fields.To summarize the key features should be Synthetic spin–orbit coupling and the physics of topological insulating phases Strongly correlated phases in non-Abelian gauge potentials Dynamical non-Abelian gauge fields and the simulation of lattice gauge theories Spin–orbit coupled BEC and vortex physics Simulators of Abelian LGTs Simulators of non-Abelian LGTsYou are invited to submit your article by 15 December 2012. Expected publication: Summer 2013.Corrections were made to this article on 7 November 2012. A change was made to the affiliations.