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Updated: Apr 4, 2026

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
Magnetic crystals and helical liquids in alkaline-earth fermionic gases
Simone Barbarino1, Luca Taddia2,3, Davide Rossini1
1NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore &Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
Abstract:
The joint action of a magnetic field and of interactions is crucial for the appearance of exotic quantum phenomena, such as the quantum Hall effect. Owing to their rich nuclear structure, equivalent to an additional synthetic dimension, one-dimensional alkaline-earth(-like) fermionic gases with synthetic gauge potential and atomic contact repulsion may display similar related properties. Here we show the existence and the features of a hierarchy of fractional insulating and conducting states by means of analytical and numerical methods. We demonstrate that the gapped states are characterized by density and magnetic order emerging solely for gases with effective nuclear spin larger than 1/2, whereas the gapless phases can support helical modes. We finally argue that these states are related to an unconventional fractional quantum Hall effect in the thin-torus limit and that their properties can be studied in state-of-the-art laboratories.
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