Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Orbital Fractures
Published on: May 16, 2025
Orbital order in Mott insulators of spinless p-band fermions
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
Abstract:
A gas of strongly interacting single-species (spinless) p-orbital fermionic atoms in 2D optical lattices is proposed and studied. Several interesting new features are found. In the Mott limit on a square lattice, the gas is found to be described effectively by an orbital exchange Hamiltonian equivalent to a pseudospin-1/2 XXZ model. For a triangular, honeycomb, or kagome lattice, the orbital exchange is geometrically frustrated and described by a new quantum 120 degrees model. We determine the orbital ordering on the kagome lattice, and show how orbital wave fluctuations select ground states via the order by disorder mechanism for the honeycomb lattice. We discuss experimental signatures of various orbital ordering.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Band Theory
The energy difference between these bands is known as the band gap.
Conductor, Semiconductor,...
Atomic Orbitals
Insulation Coordination
Conductors and Insulators
Most metals are conductors. Their atomic configuration is such that one or more electron(s) are loosely bound to the nucleus in each atom. Thus, a sea of mobile electrons are available in them, known as free electrons. Their easy...
Molecular Orbital Theory II
Molecular Orbital Theory I

