Topological Chiral Edge States in a Synthetic Dimension of Atomic Trap States

Abstract: A key hallmark of quantum Hall physics is the existence of topological chiral states at the system boundary. Signatures of these edge states have been experimentally observed in cold atoms by using different approaches, including notably that of ``synthetic dimension'' in which internal states are coupled together and reinterpreted as sites along an artificial spatial dimension. However, previous atomic synthetic dimension implementations have been limited to relatively small system sizes with inflexible boundaries. In this paper, we propose instead how to use a synthetic dimension of atomic trap states to observe chiral edge states in a large quantum Hall system with a tunable edge. We present numerical simulations for relevant experimental parameters, showing how this scheme may be used to probe the properties and robustness of the edge states to defects. Our work opens the way for future experiments in topological physics with synthetic dimensions, while also providing new ways to manipulate and control highly-excited trap states.