Topological superfluids on a square optical lattice with non-Abelian gauge fields: effects of next-nearest-neighbor hopping in the BCS-BEC evolution

Abstract

We consider a two-component Fermi gas with attractive interactions on a square optical lattice, and study the interplay of Zeeman field, spin-orbit coupling, and next-nearest-neighbor hopping on the ground-state phase diagrams in the entire BCS-BEC evolution. In particular, we first classify and distinguish all possible superfluid phases by the momentum-space topology of their zero-energy quasiparticle-quasihole excitations, and then numerically establish a plethora of quantum phase transitions in between. These transitions are further signaled and evidenced by the changes in the corresponding topological invariant of the system, i.e., its Chern number. Lastly, we find that the superfluid phase exhibits a reentrant structure, separated by a fingering normal phase, the origin of which is traced back to the changes in the single-particle density of states.