Topological Bands for Ultracold Atoms

Understand

There have been significant recent advances in realizing bandstructures with geometrical and topological features in experiments on cold atomic gases.

• We provide an overview of these developments, beginning with a summary of the key concepts of geometry and topology for Bloch bands.
• We describe the different methods that have been used to generate these novel bandstructures for cold atoms, as well as the physical observables that have allowed their characterization.
• We focus on the physical principles that underlie the different experimental approaches, providing a conceptual framework within which to view these developments.