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arXiv:1404.5326 · Physical Review X

Quantum Spin-Ice and Dimer Models with Rydberg Atoms

A. W. Glaetzle, M. Dalmonte, R. Nath, I. Rousochatzakis, Roderich Moessner, P. Zoller

Published Nov 25, 2014• 130 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum ice, an archetype of frustrated systems, exhibits links between spin physics and electromagnetism. A numerical investigation show how quantum ice dynamics can be realized in ensembles of ultracold Rydberg atoms in optical lattice potentials.
DOI
10.1103/physrevx.4.041037

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We investigate the dynamics of Rydberg electrons excited from the ground state of ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice. We first consider a lattice comprising an array of double-well potentials, where each double well is occupied by two ultracold atoms. We demonstrate the existence of molecular states with equilibrium distances of the order of experimentally attainable interwell spacings and binding energies of the order of 103GHz{10}^{3}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GHz}103GHz. We also consider the situation whereby ground-state atoms trapped in an optical lattice are collectively excited to Rydberg levels, such that the charge-density distributions of neighboring atoms overlap. We compute the hopping rate and interaction matrix elements between highly excited electrons separated by distances comparable to typical lattice spacings. Such systems have tunable interaction parameters and a temperature $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{4}$ times smaller than the Fermi temperature, making them potentially attractive for the study and simulation of strongly correlated electronic systems.
Frustrated spin-ice systems support emergent gauge fields and fractionalized quasiparticles that act as magnetic monopoles. Although artificial platforms have enabled their direct visualization, access to their quantum-coherent dynamics has remained limited. Here we realize a programmable dipolar square spin-ice model using a superconducting-qubit quantum annealer, providing access to a previously unexplored quantum-coherent regime of artificial spin ice. By implementing a direct one-to-one mapping between lattice spins and physical qubits, together with engineered extended couplings, we realize effective dipolar interactions on frustrated lattices comprising more than 400 vertices. Tuning transverse-field fluctuations enables us to probe the real-time dynamics of Dirac-string defects and interacting monopole plasmas. We observe super-diffusive monopole transport, with scaling exponents intermediate between classical diffusion and ballistic motion, indicating dynamics beyond classical stochastic relaxation and consistent with coherent propagation within an emergent gauge manifold. These results establish programmable quantum spin ice as a scalable platform for investigating fractionalized excitations and emergent gauge dynamics in engineered quantum matter.