Quantum solitons with emergent interactions in a model of cold atoms on the triangular lattice

Abstract

Cold atoms bring new opportunities to study quantum magnetism, and in particular, to simulate quantum magnets with symmetry greater than $SU(2)$. Here we explore the topological excitations which arise in a model of cold atoms on the triangular lattice with $SU(3)$ symmetry. Using a combination of homotopy analysis and analytic field-theory we identify a new family of solitonic wave functions characterised by integer charge ${\bf Q} = (Q_A, Q_B, Q_C)$, with $Q_A + Q_B + Q_C = 0$. We use a numerical approach, based on a variational wave function, to explore the stability of these solitons on a finite lattice. We find that, while solitons with charge ${\bf Q} = (Q, -Q, 0)$ are stable, wave functions with more general charge spontaneously decay into pairs of solitons with emergent interactions. This result suggests that it could be possible to realise a new class of interacting soliton, with no classical analogue, using cold atoms. It also suggests the possibility of a new form of quantum spin liquid, with gauge--group U(1)$\times$U(1).