This paper presents a mapping to realize a Rydberg-atom quantum simulator for a (1+1)-dimensional Abelian lattice gauge theory. This system is able to reproduce the string-breaking dynamics of an electric field string generated by two opposite charge fermions put on a lattice.
We propose an analog quantum simulator for simulating real-time dynamics of (1+1)-dimensional non-Abelian gauge theory well within the existing capacity of ultracold-atom experiments. The scheme calls for the realization of a two-state ultracold fermionic system in a one-dimensional bipartite lattice, and the observation of subsequent tunneling dynamics. Being based on the loop string hadron formalism of SU(2) lattice gauge theory, this simulation technique is completely SU(2) invariant and simulates accurate dynamics of physical phenomena such as string breaking and/or pair production. The scheme is scalable and particularly effective in simulating the theory in the weak-coupling regime, and also a bulk limit of the theory in the strong-coupling regime up to certain approximations. This paper also presents a numerical benchmark comparison of the exact spectrum and real-time dynamics of lattice gauge theory to that of the atomic Hamiltonian with an experimentally realizable range of parameters.
Real-Time String Dynamics in 3+1D Lattice Quantum Electrodynamics
Understanding real-time string dynamics in three spatial dimensions is essential for connecting quantum simulations of lattice gauge theories (LGTs) to the physical dimensionality of QED and QCD, where transverse fluctuations and competing local processes proliferate. We present the first real-time simulations of string breaking in 3+1D lattice quantum electrodynamics. Using tree tensor networks, we simulate the quench dynamics of electric flux strings in a 3+1D U(1) LGT with dynamical matter. At strong coupling, the string breaks resonantly at a sharp resonance condition of mass and gauge couplings, converting electric energy into matter--antimatter pairs that screen the static charges. Off resonance, we classify all competing channels---pair production, string deformations and extensions, and flux loops---whose multiplicity, extensive for pair production and flux loops, depletes the string sector even far from resonance. A channel-resolved perturbation theory quantitatively reproduces these dynamics and their Fourier spectrum. Our results establish diagnostics and benchmarks for upcoming quantum simulators of higher-dimensional LGTs.
Using a Fermi-Bose mixture of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice, we construct a quantum simulator for a U(1) gauge theory coupled to fermionic matter. The construction is based on quantum links which realize continuous gauge symmetry with discrete quantum variables. At low energies, quantum link models with staggered fermions emerge from a Hubbard-type model which can be quantum simulated. This allows us to investigate string breaking as well as the real-time evolution after a quench in gauge theories, which are inaccessible to classical simulation methods.
Gauge theories form the foundation of the Standard Model of particle physics. These theories can exhibit confinement, where charged particles only occur in bound states, connected by flux strings whose energy grows linearly with separation. Simulating the real-time dynamics of such strings, including their breaking, remains a major challenge for classical computations and a promising target for quantum simulations. While recent quantum simulation experiments explored string-breaking dynamics in abelian lattice gauge theories, non-abelian theories are qualitatively distinct because gauge fields themselves carry charge. Here, we report the first quantum simulation of genuine non-abelian string-breaking dynamics in a pure SU(2) lattice gauge theory, where gauge-field self-interactions drive string breaking even in the absence of dynamical matter. Our results are obtained on a trapped-ion quantum computer, using native qudit Hilbert spaces to encode truncated gauge fields on a ladder geometry and implement digital Trotter dynamics. We experimentally study unbreakable and breakable strings generated by fundamental and adjoint static charges, respectively. We locally resolve string oscillations and coherent string breaking through the creation of gluonic excitations driven by non-abelian plaquette interactions. Our work establishes hardware-efficient, problem-tailored qudit simulations as a promising route for accessing non-perturbative dynamics relevant to high-energy physics.
Simulating the real-time dynamics of lattice gauge theories, underlying the Standard Model of particle physics, is a notoriously difficult problem where quantum simulators can provide a practical advantage over classical approaches. In this work, we present a complete Rydberg-based architecture, co-designed to digitally simulate the dynamics of general gauge theories coupled to matter fields in a hardware-efficient manner. Ref. \cite{Gonzalez_2022} showed how a qudit processor, where non-abelian gauge fields are locally encoded and time-evolved, considerably reduces the required simulation resources compared to standard qubit-based quantum computers. Here we integrate the latter with a recently introduced fermionic quantum processor \cite{Gonzalez_2023}, where fermionic statistics are accounted for at the hardware level, allowing us to construct quantum circuits that preserve the locality of the gauge-matter interactions. We exemplify the flexibility of such a fermion-qudit processor by focusing on two paradigmatic high-energy phenomena. First, we present a resource-efficient protocol to simulate the Abelian-Higgs model, where the dynamics of confinement and string breaking can be investigated. Then, we show how to prepare hadrons made up of fermionic matter constituents bound by non-abelian gauge fields, and show how to extract the corresponding hadronic tensor. In both cases, we estimate the required resources, showing how quantum devices can be used to calculate experimentally-relevant quantities in particle physics.
Abstract Lattice gauge theories (LGTs) describe a broad range of phenomena in condensed matter and par11 ticle physics. A prominent example is confinement, responsible for bounding quarks inside hadrons such as protons or neutrons [1]. When quark-antiquark pairs are separated, the energy stored in the string of gluon fields connecting them grows linearly with their distance, until there is enough energy to create new pairs from the vacuum and break the string. While such phenomena are ubiquitous in LGTs, simulating the resulting dynamics is a challenging task [2]. Here, we report the observation of string breaking in synthetic quantum matter using a programmable quantum simulator based on neutral atom arrays [3–5]. We show that a (2+1)D LGT with dynamical matter can be efficiently implemented when the atoms are placed on a Kagome geometry [6], with a local U(1) symmetry emerging from the Rydberg blockade [7], while long-range Rydberg interactions naturally give rise to a linear confining potential for a pair of charges, allowing us to tune both their masses as well as the string tension. We experimentally map out the corresponding phase diagram by adiabatically preparing the ground state of the atom array in the presence of defects, and observe substructure of the confined phase, distinguishing regions dominated by fluctuating strings or by broken string con24 figurations. Finally, by harnessing local control over the atomic detuning, we quench string states and observe string breaking dynamics exhibiting a many-body resonance phenomenon. Our work paves a way to explore phenomena in high-energy physics using programmable quantum simulators.