Spin dynamics under the influence of elliptically rotating fields: Extracting the field topology from time-averaged quantities

Abstract

Systems that can be effectively described as a localized spin-s particle subject to time-dependent fields have attracted a great deal of interest due to, among other things, their relevance for quantum technologies. Establishing analytical relationships between the topological features of the applied fields and certain time-averaged quantities of the spin can provide important information for the theoretical understanding of these systems. Here, we address this question in the case of a localized spin-s particle subject to a static magnetic field coplanar to a coexisting elliptically rotating magnetic field. The total field periodically traces out an ellipse which encloses the origin of the coordinate system or not, depending on the values taken on by the static and the rotating components. As a result, two regimes with different topological properties characterized by the winding number of the total field emerge: the winding number is 1 if the origin lies inside the ellipse, and 0 if it lies outside. We show that the time average of the energy associated with the rotating component of the magnetic field is always proportional to the time average of the out-of-plane component of the expectation value of the spin. Moreover, the product of the signs of these two time-averaged quantities is uniquely determined by the topology of the total field and, consequently, provides a measurable indicator of this topology. We also propose an implementation of these theoretical results in a trapped-ion quantum system. Remarkably, our findings are valid in the totality of the parameter space and regardless of the initial state of the spin. In particular, when the system is prepared in a Floquet state, we demonstrate that the quasienergies, as a function of the driving amplitude at constant eccentricity, have stationary points at the topological transition boundary. The ability of the topological indicator proposed here to accurately locate the abrupt topological transition can have practical applications for the determination of unknown parameters appearing in the Hamiltonian. In addition, our predictions about the quasienergies can assist in the interpretation of conductance measurements in transport experiments with spin carriers in mesoscopic rings.