Topological insulators in cold-atom gases with non- Abelian gauge fields: the role of interactions

With the recent technological advance of creating (non)- Abelian gauge fields for ultracold atoms in optical lattices, it becomes possible to study the interplay of topological phases and interactions in these systems. Specifically, we consider a spinful and time-reversal invariant version of the Hofstadter problem. In addition, we allow for a hopping term which does not preserve $S_z$ spin symmetry and a staggered sublattice potential. Without interactions, the parameters can be tuned such that the system is a topological insulator. Using a combination of analytical techniques and the powerful real-space dynamical mean-field (R-DMFT) method, we discuss the effect of interactions and determine the interacting phase diagram.