arxiv: 2604.07631 · v2 · submitted 2026-04-08 · ❄️ cond-mat.quant-gas · physics.atom-ph· physics.optics

Recognition: unknown

Programmable Dynamic Phase Control of a Quasiperiodic Optical Lattice

Andrew O. Neely , Cedric C. Wilson , Ryan Everly , Yu Yao , Raffaella Zanetti , Charles D. Brown

Authors on Pith no claims yet

Pith reviewed 2026-05-10 16:48 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification ❄️ cond-mat.quant-gas physics.atom-phphysics.optics

keywords quasiperiodic optical latticephase controlultracold atomsquasicrystalsphase noise suppressionprogrammable latticesFloquet engineering2D lattice

0 comments

The pith

Experimental scheme creates programmable dynamic 2D quasiperiodic optical lattice with phase noise suppressed by over 70 dB.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper sets out an experimental method to form a two-dimensional optical lattice from laser beams that has quasiperiodic order rather than strict periodicity. The key advance is a feedback system that locks and modulates the beam phases in real time while cutting phase noise by more than 70 dB in the low-frequency range and maintaining that control up to hundreds of kilohertz. If the method works as described, researchers gain the ability to change the lattice's translational offsets, phasonic degrees of freedom, and even its rotational symmetry at speeds faster than the atoms can recoil. This flexibility matters because quasiperiodic potentials combine long-range order with symmetries forbidden in ordinary crystals, opening experimental access to quantum dynamics that periodic lattices cannot produce. The scheme therefore supplies a practical route to Floquet engineering and direct observation of quasicrystal physics with ultracold atoms.

Core claim

We describe an experimental scheme for creating a programmable, dynamic, two-dimensional quasiperiodic optical lattice with heavily suppressed phase noise. We observe suppression of phase noise for frequency components up to 5 kHz, and report phase noise suppression of over 70 dB over the DC-60 Hz frequency band. We further demonstrate a phase modulation bandwidth of 350 kHz. This scheme allows for full translational and phasonic control of the lattice, including changes to the rotational symmetry of the potential, at speeds exceeding the lattice recoil velocity, which paves a path towards direct observation and control of quantum dynamics in quasicrystals.

What carries the argument

Phase-locking feedback loop on the relative phases of the laser beams that form the lattice potential.

If this is right

Full translational and phasonic control becomes available at speeds exceeding the recoil velocity.
Rotational symmetry of the lattice can be altered dynamically.
Floquet engineering of quasiperiodic systems is enabled with the reported purity.
Direct experimental access to quantum dynamics in quasicrystals is opened.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

The same locking approach could be adapted to three-dimensional or higher-order quasiperiodic patterns to test whether noise suppression scales.
It might connect quasiperiodic atom simulators to existing periodic-lattice platforms, allowing side-by-side comparison of localization or transport properties.
Rapid symmetry changes could be used to quench across different quasicrystal classes and measure the resulting nonequilibrium dynamics in a single apparatus.

Load-bearing premise

The phase-locking and feedback scheme maintains stability across the full range of desired lattice symmetries and modulation speeds without introducing new decoherence channels for the atoms.

What would settle it

Direct measurement of the phase-noise spectrum during 350 kHz modulation that shows no suppression, or observation of atom heating rates that rise when the lattice symmetry or phason is changed rapidly.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2604.07631 by Andrew O. Neely, Cedric C. Wilson, Charles D. Brown, Raffaella Zanetti, Ryan Everly, Yu Yao.

**Figure 2.** Figure 2: FIG. 2. The phase measurement and control system for the [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p002_2.png] view at source ↗

**Figure 3.** Figure 3: FIG. 3. Phase noise suppression of the phase lock. (a) The [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p003_3.png] view at source ↗

**Figure 4.** Figure 4: FIG. 4. Careful control of the phase of our lattice beams [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p004_4.png] view at source ↗

**Figure 5.** Figure 5: FIG. 5. By ramping a common phase difference between adjacent beams, we can induce configurational transformations in [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p005_5.png] view at source ↗

**Figure 6.** Figure 6: FIG. 6. The resonant-frequency photodetector circuit dia [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p007_6.png] view at source ↗

**Figure 7.** Figure 7: FIG. 7. The phase control circuit diagram. The measured RF tones from the resonant photodiodes enter the circuit through [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p008_7.png] view at source ↗

read the original abstract

The quantum dynamics of quasiperiodic systems display a rich variety of physical behaviors due to the combination of rotational symmetry that is mathematically forbidden in periodic systems, and long-range order despite the lack of translation symmetry. New experimental probes into these dynamics with a quantum simulator, consisting of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice potential, will yield new insights into the physics of quasiperiodic systems. This potential is imbued with the flexibility, tunability, and purity of the individual laser beams that constitute it, allowing for exquisite control over a rich system. Programmable dynamic control over the lattice beam phases opens up an even richer space of achievable systems via Floquet engineering. We thus describe an experimental scheme for creating a programmable, dynamic, two-dimensional (2D) quasiperiodic optical lattice with heavily suppressed phase noise. We observe suppression of phase noise for frequency components up to 5 kHz, and report phase noise suppression of over 70 dB over the DC-60 Hz frequency band. We further demonstrate a phase modulation bandwidth of 350 kHz. This scheme allows for full translational and phasonic control of the lattice, including changes to the rotational symmetry of the potential, at speeds exceeding the lattice recoil velocity, which paves a path towards direct observation and control of quantum dynamics in quasicrystals.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

This paper delivers solid optical hardware metrics for dynamic phase control in 2D quasiperiodic lattices but leaves the promised atomic coherence and dynamics untested in the reported results.

read the letter

The core contribution is an experimental scheme for programmable phase modulation on a 2D quasiperiodic optical lattice. They achieve over 70 dB phase noise suppression in the DC-60 Hz band, suppression out to 5 kHz, and 350 kHz modulation bandwidth while allowing changes to translational and phasonic degrees of freedom at speeds above recoil velocity. That combination of quantified performance and full programmability is new relative to earlier static or low-bandwidth lattice work and directly supports the Floquet engineering angle they highlight. The numbers are concrete and tied to external benchmarks, which is useful for anyone trying to replicate or improve similar setups. The optical implementation looks carefully done on the beam side. The soft spot is that all the data stay at the beam level. The abstract and claims emphasize enabling new quantum simulations of quasicrystals and Floquet dynamics without new decoherence, yet no atomic lifetimes, coherence times, or in-situ measurements under simultaneous multi-beam modulation appear in the reported results. If the full paper contains those checks, they would close the gap; otherwise the central physics payoff remains prospective rather than demonstrated. Servo residuals or cross-talk could still surface only once atoms are loaded, exactly as the stress-test note flags. This is for experimental groups already working on ultracold atoms in complex lattices who need the control hardware details. A reader planning a quasicrystal experiment would extract practical value from the methods and specs. It deserves peer review because the optical performance is reproducible and timely, even if referees will likely ask for atomic validation data in revision.

Referee Report

2 major / 2 minor

Summary. The paper describes an experimental scheme for a programmable, dynamic 2D quasiperiodic optical lattice using phase control of multiple laser beams. It reports optical measurements showing phase-noise suppression for frequencies up to 5 kHz, >70 dB suppression in the DC-60 Hz band, and a modulation bandwidth of 350 kHz, enabling translational, phasonic, and symmetry control at speeds exceeding the recoil velocity for potential Floquet engineering of quasicrystal dynamics with ultracold atoms.

Significance. If the central performance metrics are validated and the scheme preserves atomic coherence under dynamic operation, the work would enable new probes of quasicrystal physics and Floquet-driven phenomena in quantum simulators. The reported bandwidth and suppression levels exceed typical requirements for recoil-velocity-scale control, which is a concrete technical advance for the field.

major comments (2)

[Abstract and Results] The abstract and results claim that the scheme 'paves a path towards direct observation and control of quantum dynamics in quasicrystals' without introducing new decoherence channels, yet the reported data consist solely of beam-level phase-noise spectra and servo performance; no atomic coherence times, lifetimes, or in-situ measurements under simultaneous multi-beam modulation at > recoil speeds are presented. This leaves the weakest assumption (stability across lattice symmetries without new decoherence) untested and load-bearing for the central claim.
[Results] The manuscript states concrete performance numbers (70 dB suppression, 350 kHz bandwidth) but provides no error bars, statistical analysis, or full methods description for how these were extracted from the phase-noise measurements. Without these, it is impossible to assess whether the suppression holds under the full range of desired lattice symmetries and modulation protocols.

minor comments (2)

[Figures] Figure captions and axis labels should explicitly state the measurement bandwidth and averaging used for the phase-noise spectra to allow direct comparison with the quoted 70 dB and 5 kHz figures.
[Introduction] The introduction would benefit from a brief comparison table of prior phase-locking schemes in optical lattices versus the present approach, highlighting the achieved bandwidth and suppression.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for their careful reading and constructive comments on our manuscript. We address each major comment point by point below, indicating the revisions we will incorporate.

read point-by-point responses

Referee: [Abstract and Results] The abstract and results claim that the scheme 'paves a path towards direct observation and control of quantum dynamics in quasicrystals' without introducing new decoherence channels, yet the reported data consist solely of beam-level phase-noise spectra and servo performance; no atomic coherence times, lifetimes, or in-situ measurements under simultaneous multi-beam modulation at > recoil speeds are presented. This leaves the weakest assumption (stability across lattice symmetries without new decoherence) untested and load-bearing for the central claim.

Authors: The manuscript presents a technical characterization of an optical phase-control scheme for a dynamic 2D quasiperiodic lattice, with all data consisting of beam-level measurements. The abstract uses the forward-looking phrase 'paves a path towards' to indicate that the demonstrated bandwidth (350 kHz) and noise suppression (>70 dB below 60 Hz) satisfy the speed and stability requirements for recoil-velocity-scale control, which is a prerequisite for Floquet engineering without phase-noise-induced decoherence. We agree that the manuscript does not contain atomic coherence or in-situ data under simultaneous multi-beam modulation, as the work is scoped to the optical implementation and servo performance. To clarify the distinction between demonstrated performance and prospective applications, we will revise the abstract and discussion sections to emphasize that atomic coherence studies remain future work. revision: partial
Referee: [Results] The manuscript states concrete performance numbers (70 dB suppression, 350 kHz bandwidth) but provides no error bars, statistical analysis, or full methods description for how these were extracted from the phase-noise measurements. Without these, it is impossible to assess whether the suppression holds under the full range of desired lattice symmetries and modulation protocols.

Authors: We agree that the extraction of the reported metrics requires additional detail for reproducibility. The values were obtained from heterodyne phase-noise spectra and closed-loop servo analysis, but the manuscript lacks explicit error bars, statistical treatment, and a complete methods description. In the revised version we will add a dedicated methods subsection that specifies the measurement protocol, data processing steps, uncertainty estimation, and any assumptions regarding applicability to different lattice symmetries and modulation waveforms. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: experimental hardware demonstration without derivations or fitted predictions

full rationale

The manuscript describes an experimental apparatus and reports direct measurements of phase-noise suppression (up to 5 kHz, >70 dB in DC-60 Hz) and modulation bandwidth (350 kHz) for a programmable 2D quasiperiodic lattice. No equations, ansatzes, or parameter fits are presented as predictions; the central results are raw hardware performance data benchmarked against external references such as recoil velocity. The work contains no self-citation chains, uniqueness theorems, or renamings that reduce the claimed outcomes to their own inputs. The derivation chain is therefore empty and the paper is self-contained against external benchmarks.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

Experimental hardware paper with no free parameters, axioms, or invented entities in a theoretical sense; performance claims rest on standard laser stabilization techniques and atom trapping assumptions.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5550 in / 1062 out tokens · 27779 ms · 2026-05-10T16:48:46.845517+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Forward citations

Cited by 1 Pith paper

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

Quantum phase diagrams for bosons in hexagonal optical potentials: A continuous-space quantum Monte Carlo study
cond-mat.quant-gas 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 6.0

Continuous-space simulations of bosons in hexagonal lattices reveal suppressed Mott insulator phases in honeycomb geometries due to density-assisted tunneling and multiple sublattice Mott lobes in asymmetric h-BN lattices.

Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

44 extracted references · 3 canonical work pages · cited by 1 Pith paper · 1 internal anchor

[1]

controlled

standing waves formed from the interference of each unique pair of the five laser beams. As such, the phases of the beams only enter the potential as differences, al- lowing us to, without loss of generality, define one beam to haveφ 5 = 0, and define the other four phases relative to this one. This scheme maps well onto the experimen- tal setup, where we...
[2]

Shechtman, I

D. Shechtman, I. Blech, D. Gratias, and J. W. Cahn, Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry, Physical Review Let- ters53, 1951 (1984)

1951
[3]

Ghadimi, T

R. Ghadimi, T. Sugimoto, and T. Tohyama, Mean-field study of the Bose-Hubbard model in the Penrose lattice, Physical Review B102, 224201 (2020)

2020
[4]

Rolof, S

S. Rolof, S. Thiem, and M. Schreiber, Electronic wave functions of quasiperiodic systems in momentum space, The European Physical Journal B86, 372 (2013)

2013
[5]

Sbroscia, K

M. Sbroscia, K. Viebahn, E. Carter, J.-C. Yu, A. Gaunt, and U. Schneider, Observing Localization in a 2D Qua- sicrystalline Optical Lattice, Physical Review Letters 125, 200604 (2020)

2020
[6]

W. Yao, E. Wang, C. Bao, Y. Zhang, K. Zhang, K. Bao, C. K. Chan, C. Chen, J. Avila, M. C. Asen- sio, J. Zhu, and S. Zhou, Quasicrystalline 30°twisted bi- layer graphene as an incommensurate superlattice with strong interlayer coupling, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences115, 6928 (2018)

2018
[7]

On the origin of energy gaps in quasicrystalline potentials

E. Gottlob, D. Gr¨ oters, and U. Schneider, On the ori- gin of energy gaps in quasicrystalline potentials (2025), arXiv:2512.18328 [cond-mat]

work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2025
[8]

Gottlob, D

E. Gottlob, D. S. Borgnia, R.-J. Slager, and U. Schnei- der, Quasiperiodicity Protects Quantized Transport in Disordered Systems Without Gaps, PRX Quantum6, 020359 (2025)

2025
[9]

Huang and F

H. Huang and F. Liu, Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Spin Bott Index in a Quasicrystal Lattice, Physical Review Letters121, 126401 (2018)

2018
[10]

Dareau, E

A. Dareau, E. Levy, M. B. Aguilera, R. Bouganne, E. Akkermans, F. Gerbier, and J. Beugnon, Revealing the Topology of Quasicrystals with a Diffraction Exper- iment, Physical Review Letters119, 215304 (2017)

2017
[11]

M. A. Bandres, M. C. Rechtsman, and M. Segev, Topological Photonic Quasicrystals: Fractal Topologi- cal Spectrum and Protected Transport, Physical Review X6, 011016 (2016)

2016
[12]

Matsuda, M

F. Matsuda, M. Tezuka, and N. Kawakami, Topologi- cal Properties of Ultracold Bosons in One-Dimensional Quasiperiodic Optical Lattice, Journal of the Physical Society of Japan83, 083707 (2014)

2014
[13]

D.-T. Tran, A. Dauphin, N. Goldman, and P. Gaspard, Topological Hofstadter insulators in a two-dimensional quasicrystal, Physical Review B91, 085125 (2015)

2015
[14]

C. W. Duncan, S. Manna, and A. E. B. Nielsen, Topo- logical models in rotationally symmetric quasicrystals, Physical Review B101, 115413 (2020)

2020
[15]

Burgess and N

B. Burgess and N. Cooper, Quasicrystalline Analogue of the Haldane Model (2026), arXiv:2601.17963 [cond-mat]

work page arXiv 2026
[16]

Singh, K

K. Singh, K. Saha, S. A. Parameswaran, and D. M. Weld, Fibonacci optical lattices for tunable quantum quasicrys- tals, Physical Review A92, 063426 (2015)

2015
[17]

Kamiya, T

K. Kamiya, T. Takeuchi, N. Kabeya, N. Wada, T. Ishi- masa, A. Ochiai, K. Deguchi, K. Imura, and N. K. Sato, Discovery of superconductivity in quasicrystal, Nature Communications9, 154 (2018)

2018
[18]

R. N. Ara´ ujo and E. C. Andrade, Conventional super- conductivity in quasicrystals, Physical Review B100, 014510 (2019). 10

2019
[19]

Sakai and R

S. Sakai and R. Arita, Exotic pairing state in quasicrys- talline superconductors under a magnetic field, Physical Review Research1, 022002 (2019)

2019
[20]

Sakai, N

S. Sakai, N. Takemori, A. Koga, and R. Arita, Super- conductivity on a quasiperiodic lattice: Extended-to- localized crossover of Cooper pairs, Physical Review B 95, 024509 (2017)

2017
[21]

A. Uri, S. C. de la Barrera, M. T. Randeria, D. Rodan- Legrain, T. Devakul, P. J. D. Crowley, N. Paul, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, R. Lifshitz, L. Fu, R. C. Ashoori, and P. Jarillo-Herrero, Superconductivity and strong interactions in a tunable moir´ e quasicrystal, Na- ture620, 762 (2023)

2023
[22]

Tarruell, D

L. Tarruell, D. Greif, T. Uehlinger, G. Jotzu, and T. Esslinger, Creating, moving and merging Dirac points with a Fermi gas in a tunable honeycomb lattice, Nature 483, 302 (2012)

2012
[23]

J. Hou, H. Hu, K. Sun, and C. Zhang, Superfluid- Quasicrystal in a Bose-Einstein Condensate, Physical Review Letters120, 060407 (2018)

2018
[24]

Spurrier and N

S. Spurrier and N. R. Cooper, Semiclassical dynamics, Berry curvature, and spiral holonomy in optical qua- sicrystals, Physical Review A97, 043603 (2018)

2018
[25]

Gross and I

C. Gross and I. Bloch, Quantum simulations with ultra- cold atoms in optical lattices, Science357, 995 (2017)

2017
[26]

Shimasaki, Y

T. Shimasaki, Y. Bai, H. E. Kondakci, P. Dotti, J. E. Pagett, A. R. Dardia, M. Prichard, A. Eckardt, and D. M. Weld, Reversible Phasonic Control of a Quantum Phase Transition in a Quasicrystal, Physical Review Let- ters133, 083405 (2024)

2024
[27]

Grass, D

T. Grass, D. Bercioux, U. Bhattacharya, M. Lewenstein, H. S. Nguyen, and C. Weitenberg,Colloquium: Syn- thetic quantum matter in nonstandard geometries, Re- views of Modern Physics97, 011001 (2025)

2025
[28]

Viebahn, M

K. Viebahn, M. Sbroscia, E. Carter, J.-C. Yu, and U. Schneider, Matter-Wave Diffraction from a Quasicrys- talline Optical Lattice, Physical Review Letters122, 110404 (2019)

2019
[29]

J.-C. Yu, S. Bhave, L. Reeve, B. Song, and U. Schneider, Observing the two-dimensional Bose glass in an optical quasicrystal, Nature633, 338 (2024)

2024
[30]

C. D. Brown, S.-W. Chang, M. N. Schwarz, T.-H. Leung, V. Kozii, A. Avdoshkin, J. E. Moore, and D. Stamper- Kurn, Direct geometric probe of singularities in band structure, Science377, 1319 (2022)

2022
[31]

L.-J. Lang, X. Cai, and S. Chen, Edge States and Topo- logical Phases in One-Dimensional Optical Superlattices, Physical Review Letters108, 220401 (2012)

2012
[32]

M. N. Kosch, L. Asteria, H. P. Zahn, K. Sengstock, and C. Weitenberg, Multifrequency optical lattice for dynamic lattice-geometry control, Physical Review Re- search4, 043083 (2022)

2022
[33]

Y. Li, W. Han, Z. Meng, W. Yang, C. Chin, and J. Zhang, Observation of quantized vortex in atomic Bose–Einstein condensate at Dirac point with emergent spin–orbit coupling, Nature Photonics19, 1264 (2025)

2025
[34]

T. Li, L. Duca, M. Reitter, F. Grusdt, E. Demler, M. En- dres, M. Schleier-Smith, I. Bloch, and U. Schneider, Bloch state tomography using Wilson lines, Science352, 1094 (2016)

2016
[35]

Mehling, M

K. Mehling, M. Holland, and C. LeDesma, High- precision phase control of an optical lattice with up to 50 dB noise suppression, Physical Review Applied25, 024008 (2026)

2026
[36]

Sanchez-Palencia and L

L. Sanchez-Palencia and L. Santos, Bose-Einstein con- densates in optical quasicrystal lattices, Physical Review A72, 053607 (2005)

2005
[37]

T. A. Corcovilos and J. Mittal, Two-dimensional optical quasicrystal potentials for ultracold atom experiments, Applied Optics58, 2256 (2019)

2019
[38]

Leung,Interacting Ultracold Bosonic Atoms in Ge- ometrically Frustrated Lattices, Ph.D

T.-H. Leung,Interacting Ultracold Bosonic Atoms in Ge- ometrically Frustrated Lattices, Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley (2020)

2020
[39]

J. P. Lu and J. L. Birman, Electronic structure of a quasiperiodic system, Physical Review B36, 4471 (1987)

1987
[40]

Freedman, R

B. Freedman, R. Lifshitz, J. W. Fleischer, and M. Segev, Phason dynamics in nonlinear photonic quasicrystals, Nature Materials6, 776 (2007)

2007
[41]

Y. E. Kraus, Y. Lahini, Z. Ringel, M. Verbin, and O. Zil- berberg, Topological States and Adiabatic Pumping in Quasicrystals, Physical Review Letters109, 106402 (2012)

2012
[42]

Steurer, Quasicrystals

W. Steurer, Quasicrystals. A primer by C. Janot, Acta Crystallographica Section A53, 10.1107/S0108767397099868 (1997)

work page doi:10.1107/s0108767397099868 1997
[43]

Szab´ o and U

A. Szab´ o and U. Schneider, Mixed spectra and par- tially extended states in a two-dimensional quasiperiodic model, Physical Review B101, 014205 (2020)

2020
[44]

ˇStrkalj, E

A. ˇStrkalj, E. V. H. Doggen, and C. Castelnovo, Coexis- tence of localization and transport in many-body two- dimensional Aubry-Andr´ e models, Physical Review B 106, 184209 (2022)

2022