Quantum Kibble–Zurek mechanism and critical dynamics on a programmable Rydberg simulator

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 568; no. 7751; pp. 207 - 211
• Main Authors: Keesling, Alexander, Omran, Ahmed, Levine, Harry, Bernien, Hannes, Pichler, Hannes, Choi, Soonwon, Samajdar, Rhine, Schwartz, Sylvain, Silvi, Pietro, Sachdev, Subir, Zoller, Peter, Endres, Manuel, Greiner, Markus, Vuletić, Vladan, Lukin, Mikhail D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.04.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/766/119/2795; 639/766/483/3926; Computer simulation; Critical phenomena; Dynamics; Excited state chemistry; Humanities and Social Sciences; Ising model; Letter; multidisciplinary; Phase transitions; Phase transitions (Physics); Physics research; Quantum mechanics; Quantum phenomena; Scaling; Science; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Science (multidisciplinary); Symmetry; Time dependence; Transition points; Universe
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1070-1

Quantum phase transitions (QPTs) involve transformations between different states of matter that are driven by quantum fluctuations 1 . These fluctuations play a dominant part in the quantum critical region surrounding the transition point, where the dynamics is governed by the universal properties associated with the QPT. Although time-dependent phenomena associated with classical, thermally driven phase transitions have been extensively studied in systems ranging from the early Universe to Bose–Einstein condensates 2 – 5 , understanding critical real-time dynamics in isolated, non-equilibrium quantum systems remains a challenge 6 . Here we use a Rydberg atom quantum simulator with programmable interactions to study the quantum critical dynamics associated with several distinct QPTs. By studying the growth of spatial correlations when crossing the QPT, we experimentally verify the quantum Kibble–Zurek mechanism (QKZM) 7 – 9 for an Ising-type QPT, explore scaling universality and observe corrections beyond QKZM predictions. This approach is subsequently used to measure the critical exponents associated with chiral clock models 10 , 11 , providing new insights into exotic systems that were not previously understood and opening the door to precision studies of critical phenomena, simulations of lattice gauge theories 12 , 13 and applications to quantum optimization 14 , 15 . A Rydberg atom quantum simulator with programmable interactions is used to experimentally verify the quantum Kibble–Zurek mechanism through the growth of spatial correlations during quantum phase transitions.