Effective Dirac equation for ultracold atoms in optical lattices: Role of the localization properties of the Wannier functions

We review the derivation of the effective Dirac equation for ultracold atoms in one-dimensional bichromatic optical lattices, following the proposal by Witthaut et al. [Phys.Rev.A 84, 033601 (2011)]. We discuss how such a derivation—based on a suitable rotation of the Bloch basis and on a coarse-graining approximation—is affected by the choice of the Wannier functions entering the coarsening procedure. We show that in general the Wannier functions obtained by rotating the maximally localized Wannier functions for the original Bloch bands can be sufficiently localized for justifying the coarse-graining approximation. We also comment on the relation between the rotation needed to achieve the Dirac form and the standard Foldy- Wouthuysen transformation. Our results provide a solid ground for the interpretation of the experimental results by Salger et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett.107,240401 (2011)] in terms of an effective Dirac dynamics