Chiral Gravitons on the Lattice

Abstract: Chiral graviton modes are elusive excitations arising from the hidden quantum geometry of fractional quantum Hall states. It remains unclear, however, whether this picture extends to lattice models, where continuum translations are broken and additional quasiparticle decay channels arise. We present a framework in which we explicitly derive a field theory incorporating lattice chiral graviton operators within the paradigmatic bosonic Harper-Hofstadter model. Extensive numerical evidence suggests that chiral graviton modes persist away from the continuum, and are well captured by the proposed lattice operators. We identify geometric quenches as a viable experimental probe, paving the way for the exploration of chiral gravitons in near-term quantum simulation experiments.