Controllable Floquet edge modes in a multifrequency driving system

Abstract

A driven quantum system was recently studied in the context of nonequilibrium phase transitions and their responses. In particular, for a periodically driven system, its dynamics are described in terms of the multidimensional Floquet lattice with a lattice size depending on the number of driving frequencies and their rational or irrational ratio. So far, for a multifrequency driving system, the energy pumping between the sources of frequencies has been widely discussed as a signature of topologically nontrivial Floquet bands. However, the unique edge modes emerging in the Floquet lattice have not been explored yet. Here, we discuss how the edge modes in the Floquet lattice are controlled and result in the localization at particular frequencies, when multiple frequencies are present and their magnitudes are commensurate values. First, we construct the minimal model to exemplify our argument, focusing on a two-level system with two driving frequencies. For the strong frequency limit, one can describe the system as a quasi-one-dimensional Floquet lattice where the effective hopping between the neighboring sites depends on the relative magnitudes of the potential for two frequency modes. With multiple driving modes, nontrivial Floquet lattice boundaries always exist from controlling the frequencies, and this gives rise to states that are mostly localized at such Floquet lattice boundaries, i.e., particular frequencies. We suggest the time-dependent Creutz ladder model as a realization of our theoretical Hamiltonian and show the emergence of controllable Floquet edge modes. © 2023 American Physical Society.