The geometric structure of an energy band in a solid is fundamental for a wide range of many-body phenomena in condensed matter and is uniquely characterized by the distribution of Berry curvature over the Brillouin zone. In analogy to an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer that measures the magnetic flux penetrating a given area in real space, we realize an atomic interferometer to measure Berry flux in momentum space. We demonstrate the interferometer for a graphene-type hexagonal lattice, where it has allowed us to directly detect the singular π Berry flux localized at each Dirac point. We show that the interferometer enables one to determine the distribution of Berry curvature with high momentum resolution. Our work forms the basis for a general framework to fully characterize topological band structures and can also facilitate holonomic quantum computing through controlled exploitation of the geometry of Hilbert space.More than thirty years ago, Berry [1] delineated the effects of the geometric structure of Hilbert space on the adiabatic evolution of quantum mechanical systems. These ideas have found widespread applications in science [2] and are routinely used to calculate the geometric phase shift acquired by a particle moving along a closed path-a phase shift that is determined only by the geometry of the path and is independent of the time spent en route. Geometric phases provide an elegant description of the celebrated Aharonov-Bohm effect [3], where a magnetic flux in a confined region of space influences the eigenstates everywhere via the magnetic vector potential. In condensed-matter physics, an analogous Berry flux in momentum space is responsible for various anomalous velocities and Hall responses [4] and lies at the heart of many-body phenomena ranging from quantum Hall physics [5] to topological insulators [6]. The Berry flux density (Berry curvature) is indeed essential to the characterization of an energy band and determines its topological invariants. However, mapping out the geometric structure of an energy band [7][8][9] has remained a major unresolved challenge for experiments.Here, we demonstrate a versatile technique for measuring geometric phases in reciprocal space using spin-echo interferometry with ultracold atoms [9, 10]. In contrast to typical solid state experiments, where all geometric effects are averaged over the Fermi sea, the use of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) enables measurements with high momentum resolution. We exploit this resolution to directly detect the singular topological properties of an individual Dirac cone [11] in a graphene-type hexagonal optical lattice (see Fig. 1). Concentrated at the Dirac point is a π Berry flux, which is analogous to a magnetic flux generated by an infinitely narrow solenoid [12]. This localized flux gives rise to several striking properties of graphene, including the half-integer shift in the positions of quantum Hall plateaus [13,14], the phase of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations [13,14], and the polarization dependence in photoemission spec...

Topology and geometry are essential to our understanding of modern physics, underlying many foundational concepts from high-energy theories, quantum information, and condensed-matter physics. In condensed-matter systems, a wide range of phenomena stem from the geometry of the band eigenstates, which is encoded in the matrix-valued Wilson line for general multiband systems. Using an ultracold gas of rubidium atoms loaded in a honeycomb optical lattice, we realize strong-force dynamics in Bloch bands that are described by Wilson lines and observe an evolution in the band populations that directly reveals the band geometry. Our technique enables a full determination of band eigenstates, Berry curvature, and topological invariants, including single- and multiband Chern and Z₂ numbers.

Periodic driving of optical lattices has enabled the creation of novel band structures not realizable in static lattice systems, such as topological bands for neutral particles. However, especially driven systems of interacting bosonic particles often suffer from strong heating. We have systematically studied heating in an interacting Bose-Einstein condensate in a driven one-dimensional optical lattice. We find interaction dependent heating rates that depend on both the scattering length and the driving strength and identify the underlying resonant intra- and interband scattering processes. By comparing the experimental data and theory, we find that, for driving frequencies well above the trap depth, the heating rate is dramatically reduced by the fact that resonantly scattered atoms leave the trap before dissipating their energy into the system. This mechanism of Floquet evaporative cooling offers a powerful strategy to minimize heating in Floquet engineered quantum gases.