Gauge fields are ubiquitous in Physics. For example, in the context of high energy physics, they are the fundamental carrier of forces; while in condensed matter systems the associated physical fields (electrical and magnetic) are essential in creating and understanding many-body phenomena.

Here I present our experimental work synthesizing static gauge fields for ultracold neutral atoms -- analogous to applied fields in condensed matter systems -- and I will discuss these static gauge fields both in terms of conventional electromagnetism and also using the language of spin-orbit coupling.

Argonne Physics Division Colloquium Schedule