Landau-like states in neutral particles

Abstract

We show the emergence of a new type of dispersion relation for neutral atoms with an interesting similarity with the spectrum of 2-dimensional electrons in an applied perpendicular constant magnetic field. These neutral atoms can be confined in toroidal optical traps and give quasi Landau spectra. In strong contrast to the equi-distant infinitely degenerate Landau levels for charged particles, the spectral gap for such 2-dimensional neutral particles increases in particular electric field configurations. The idea in the paper is motivated by the development in cold atom experiments and builds on the seminal paper of Aharonov and Casher.