Simulating and detecting the quantum spin Hall effect in the kagome optical lattice

Abstract

We propose a model which includes a nearest-neighbor intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and a trimerized Hamiltonian in the kagome lattice and promises to host the transition from the quantum spin Hall insulator to the normal insulator. In addition, we design an experimental scheme to simulate and detect this transition in the ultracold atom system. The lattice intrinsic spin-orbit coupling is generated via the laser-induced-gauge-field method. Furthermore, we establish the connection between the spin Chern number and the spin-atomic density which enables us to detect the quantum spin Hall insulator directly by the standard density-profile technique used in atomic systems.