Ultracold atoms in U(2) non-Abelian gauge potentials preserving the Landau levels

Abstract

We study ultracold atoms subjected to U(2) non-Abelian potentials: we consider gauge potentials having, in the Abelian limit, degenerate Landau levels and we then investigate the effect of general homogeneous non-Abelian terms. The conditions under which the structure of degenerate Landau levels is preserved are classified and discussed. The typical gauge potentials preserving the Landau levels are characterized by a fictitious magnetic field and by an effective spin-orbit interaction, e.g. obtained through the rotation of two-dimensional atomic gases coupled with a tripod scheme. The single-particle energy spectrum can be exactly determined for a class of gauge potentials, whose physical implementation is explicitly discussed. The corresponding Landau levels are deformed by the non-Abelian contribution of the potential and their spin degeneracy is split. The related deformed quantum Hall states for fermions and bosons (in the presence of strong intra-species interaction) are determined far from and at the degeneracy points of the Landau levels. A discussion of the effect of the angular momentum is presented, as well as results for U(3) gauge potentials.