Directed transport in driven optical lattices by phase generation

We examine the dynamics of ultracold atoms held in optical lattice potentials. By controlling the switching of a periodic driving potential we show how a phase-induced renormalization of the intersite tunneling can be used to produce directed motion and control wavepacket spreading. We further show how this generation of a synthetic gauge potential can be used to split and recombine wavepackets, providing an attractive route to implementing quantum computing tasks.