Interrelated Thermalization and Quantum Criticality in a Lattice Gauge Simulator

Abstract

Gauge theory and thermalization are both foundations of physics and nowadays are both topics of essential importance for modern quantum science and technology. Simulating lattice gauge theories (LGTs) realized recently with ultracold atoms provides a unique opportunity for carrying out a correlated study of gauge theory and thermalization in the same setting. Theoretical studies have shown that an Ising quantum phase transition exists in this implemented LGT, and quantum thermalization can also signal this phase transition. Nevertheless, it remains an experimental challenge to accurately determine the critical point and controllably explore the thermalization dynamics in the quantum critical regime due to the lack of techniques for locally manipulating and detecting matter and gauge fields. Here, we report an experimental investigation of the quantum criticality in the LGT from both equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermalization perspectives by equipping the single-site addressing and atom-number-resolved detection into our LGT simulator. We accurately determine the quantum critical point agreed with the predicted value. We prepare a $|Z_2⟩$ state deterministically and study its thermalization dynamics across the critical point, leading to the observation that this $|Z_2⟩$ state thermalizes only in the critical regime. This result manifests the interplay between quantum many-body scars, quantum criticality, and symmetry breaking.

arXiv comment6+4 pages, 4+7 figures

References in corpus (40)

• Chaos and Quantum Thermalization
• Thermalization and its mechanism for generic isolated quantum systems
• Probing many-body dynamics on a 51-atom quantum simulator
• Many body localization and thermalization in quantum statistical mechanics
• From Quantum Chaos and Eigenstate Thermalization to Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
• Many-body localization, thermalization, and entanglement
• A quantum gas microscope - detecting single atoms in a Hubbard regime optical lattice
• Single-Atom Resolved Fluorescence Imaging of an Atomic Mott Insulator
• Measuring entanglement entropy through the interference of quantum many-body twins
• Quantum many-body scars
• Real-time dynamics of lattice gauge theories with a few-qubit quantum computer
• Single-Spin Addressing in an Atomic Mott Insulator
• Self-Verifying Variational Quantum Simulation of the Lattice Schwinger Model
• Simulating Lattice Gauge Theories within Quantum Technologies
• Quantum scarred eigenstates in a Rydberg atom chain: entanglement, breakdown of thermalization, and stability to perturbations
• Quantum Simulations of Lattice Gauge Theories using Ultracold Atoms in Optical Lattices
• Ultracold Quantum Gases and Lattice Systems: Quantum Simulation of Lattice Gauge Theories
• Floquet approach to ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ lattice gauge theories with ultracold atoms in optical lattices
• Atomic Quantum Simulation of Dynamical Gauge Fields coupled to Fermionic Matter: From String Breaking to Evolution after a Quench
• Observation of gauge invariance in a 71-site Bose-Hubbard quantum simulator
• Lattice gauge theories and string dynamics in Rydberg atom quantum simulators
• Lattice gauge theories simulations in the quantum information era
• Competing density-wave orders in a one-dimensional hard-boson model
• Realizing a scalable building block of a U(1) gauge theory with cold atomic mixtures
• Thermalization dynamics of a gauge theory on a quantum simulator
• Mott insulators in strong electric fields
• Review on novel methods for lattice gauge theories
• Tensor networks for Lattice Gauge Theories and Atomic Quantum Simulation
• Optical Abelian Lattice Gauge Theories
• Cooling and entangling ultracold atoms in optical lattices
• Real Time Dynamics and Confinement in the ${\mathbb{Z}}_n$ Schwinger-Weyl lattice model for 1+1 QED
• Real-time dynamics of string breaking
• Dynamical topological transitions in the massive Schwinger model with a θ-term
• Dynamical quantum phase transitions in $U(1)$ quantum link models
• Spin-dependent Optical Superlattice
• Tuning the Topological $\theta$-Angle in Cold-Atom Quantum Simulators of Gauge Theories
• Quantum Many-Body Scars and Quantum Criticality
• Scalable cold-atom quantum simulator for two-dimensional QED
• Tunable Confinement-Deconfinement Transition in an Ultracold Atom Quantum Simulator
• Bridging quantum many-body scar and quantum integrability in Ising chains with transverse and longitudinal fields

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Quantum Computing for High-Energy Physics: State of the Art and Challenges. Summary of the QC4HEP Working Group
• Emergent Gauge Theory in Rydberg Atom Arrays
• A Cold-Atom Particle Collider
• Spin exchange-enabled quantum simulator for large-scale non-Abelian gauge theories
• Violation of Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis in Quantum Field Theories with Higher-Form Symmetry
• Large-Scale $2+1$D $\mathrm{U}(1)$ Gauge Theory with Dynamical Matter in a Cold-Atom Quantum Simulator
• Many-Body Non-Hermitian Skin Effect with Exact Steady States in the Dissipative Quantum Link Model
• From the Quantum Breakdown Model to the Lattice Gauge Theory
• Disorder-Free Localization as a Purely Classical Effect
• Exploring quantum criticality and ergodicity-breaking dynamics in spin-1 Kitaev chains via single-ion anisotropies
• The global phase diagram of the cluster-XY spin chain with dissipation
• Quantum Simulation with Gauge Fixing: from Ising Lattice Gauge Theory to Dynamical Flux Model
• Spacetime Supersymmetry in the Truncated Lattice Schwinger Model
• Dissipation Driven Coherent Dynamics Observed in Bose-Einstein Condensates
• Quantum simulation of fermionic non-Abelian lattice gauge theories in $(2+1)$D with built-in gauge protection
• Emergence of topological states in relaxation dynamics of interacting bosons
• Partial confinement in a quantum-link simulator
• Disorder-Free Localization and Fragmentation in a Non-Abelian Lattice Gauge Theory
• A digital Rydberg simulation of dynamical quantum phase transitions in the Schwinger model