Dissipative preparation of fractional Chern insulators

We report on the numerically exact simulation of the dissipative dynamics governed by quantum master equations that feature fractional quantum Hall states as unique steady states. In particular, for the paradigmatic Hofstadter model, we show how Laughlin states can be to good approximation prepared in a dissipative fashion from arbitrary initial states by simply pumping strongly interacting bosons into the lowest Chern band of the corresponding single-particle spectrum. While pure (up to topological degeneracy) steady states are only reached in the low-flux limit or for extended hopping range, we observe a certain robustness regarding the overlap of the steady state with fractional quantum Hall states for experimentally well-controlled flux densities. This may be seen as an encouraging step towards addressing the long-standing challenge of preparing strongly correlated topological phases in quantum simulators.

Automated summary

This study reports on the numerically exact simulation of dissipative dynamics governed by quantum master equations with fractional quantum Hall states as unique steady states. It shows that Laughlin states can be prepared in a dissipative fashion by pumping strongly interacting bosons into the lowest Chern band of the corresponding single-particle spectrum. The overlap of the steady state with fractional quantum Hall states is observed to have a certain robustness for experimentally well-controlled flux densities, providing progress towards preparing strongly correlated topological phases in quantum simulators.