Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2107.00038 · Science

Quantum gas microscopy of Kardar-Parisi-Zhang superdiffusion

David Wei, Antonio Rubio-Abadal, Bingtian Ye, Francisco Machado, Jack Kemp, Kritsana Srakaew, Simon Hollerith, Jun Rui, Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Norman Y. Yao, Immanuel Bloch, Johannes Zeiher

Published May 12, 2022• 218 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class describes the coarse-grained behavior of a wealth of classical stochastic models. Surprisingly, KPZ universality was recently conjectured to also describe spin transport in the one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg model. We tested this conjecture by experimentally probing transport in a cold-atom quantum simulator via the relaxation of domain walls in spin chains of up to 50 spins. We found that domain-wall relaxation is indeed governed by the KPZ dynamical exponent z = 3/2 and that the occurrence of KPZ scaling requires both integrability and a nonabelian SU(2) symmetry. Finally, we leveraged the single-spin–sensitive detection enabled by the quantum gas microscope to measure an observable based on spin-transport statistics. Our results yield a clear signature of the nonlinearity that is a hallmark of KPZ universality.

DOI
10.1126/science.abk2397

Related papers

Robustness of Kardar-Parisi-Zhang-like transport in long-range interacting quantum spin chains

Sajant Anand, Jack Kemp, Julia Wei +3 more

Isotropic integrable spin chains such as the Heisenberg model feature superdiffusive spin transport belonging to an as-yet-unidentified dynamical universality class closely related to that of Kardar, Parisi, and Zhang (KPZ). To determine whether these results extend to more generic one-dimensional models, particularly those realizable in quantum simulators, we investigate spin and energy transport in non-integrable, long-range Heisenberg models using state-of-the-art tensor network methods. Despite the lack of integrability and the asymptotic expectation of diffusion, for power-law models (with exponent $2 < α< \infty$) we observe long-lived $z=3/2$ superdiffusive spin transport and two-point correlators consistent with KPZ scaling functions, up to times $t \sim 10^3/J$. We conjecture that this KPZ-like transport is due to the proximity of such power-law-interacting models to the integrable family of Inozemtsev models, which we show to also exhibit KPZ-like spin transport across all interaction ranges. Finally, we consider anisotropic spin models naturally realized in Rydberg atom arrays and ultracold polar molecules, demonstrating that a wide range of long-lived, non-diffusive transport can be observed in experimental settings.

quant-pharXiv:2602.15933•Feb 19, 2026•0 citations

Superdiffusion from Nonabelian Symmetries in Nearly Integrable Systems

Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Romain Vasseur

The Heisenberg spin chain is a canonical integrable model. As such, it features stable ballistically propagating quasiparticles, but spin transport is subballistic at any nonzero temperature: An initially localized spin fluctuation spreads in time t to a width t2/3. This exponent as well as the functional form of the dynamical spin correlation function suggest that spin transport is in the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ) universality class. However, the full counting statistics of magnetization is manifestly incompatible with KPZ scaling. A simple two-mode hydrodynamic description, derivable from microscopic principles, captures both the KPZ scaling of the correlation function and the coarse features of the full counting statistics, but remains to be numerically validated. These results generalize to any integrable spin chain invariant under a continuous nonabelian symmetry and are surprisingly robust against moderately strong integrability-breaking perturbations that respect the nonabelian symmetry.

arXiv:2305.15463•Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics•Nov 21, 2023•21 citations

Universal Kardar-Parisi-Zhang Dynamics in Integrable Quantum Systems

Bingtian Ye, Francisco Machado, Jack Kemp +2 more

Although the Bethe ansatz solution of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model dates back nearly a century, the anomalous nature of its high-temperature transport dynamics has only recently been uncovered. Indeed, numerical and experimental observations have demonstrated that spin transport in this paradigmatic model falls into the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. This has inspired the significantly stronger conjecture that KPZ dynamics, in fact, occur in all integrable spin chains with non-Abelian symmetry. Here, we provide extensive numerical evidence affirming this conjecture. Moreover, we observe that KPZ transport is even more generic, arising in both supersymmetric and periodically driven models. Motivated by recent advances in the realization of SU(N)-symmetric spin models in alkaline-earth-based optical lattice experiments, we propose and analyze a protocol to directly investigate the KPZ scaling function in such systems.

arXiv:2205.02853•Physical Review Letters•Nov 30, 2022•42 citations

Partial Yet Definite Emergence of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang Class in Isotropic Spin Chains

Kazumasa A. Takeuchi, Kazuaki Takasan, Ofer Busani +3 more

Integrable spin chains with a continuous non-Abelian symmetry, such as the one-dimensional isotropic Heisenberg model, show superdiffusive transport with little theoretical understanding. Although recent studies reported a surprising connection to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class in that case, this view was most recently questioned by discrepancies in full counting statistics. Here, by combining extensive numerical simulations of classical and quantum integrable isotropic spin chains with a framework developed by exact studies of the KPZ class, we characterize various two-point quantities that remain hitherto unexplored in spin chains, and find full agreement with KPZ scaling laws without adjustable parameters. This establishes the partial emergence of the KPZ class in integrable isotropic spin chains. Moreover, we reveal that the KPZ scaling laws are intact in the presence of an energy current, under the appropriate Galilean boost required by the propagation of spacetime correlation.

arXiv:2406.07150•Physical Review Letters•Mar 6, 2025•12 citations

Dynamics of magnetization at infinite temperature in a Heisenberg spin chain

Eliott N. Rosenberg, Trond I. Andersen, Rhine Samajdar +97 more

Understanding universal aspects of quantum dynamics is an unresolved problem in statistical mechanics. In particular, the spin dynamics of the one-dimensional Heisenberg model were conjectured as to belong to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class based on the scaling of the infinite-temperature spin-spin correlation function. In a chain of 46 superconducting qubits, we studied the probability distribution of the magnetization transferred across the chain's center, [Formula: see text]. The first two moments of [Formula: see text] show superdiffusive behavior, a hallmark of KPZ universality. However, the third and fourth moments ruled out the KPZ conjecture and allow for evaluating other theories. Our results highlight the importance of studying higher moments in determining dynamic universality classes and provide insights into universal behavior in quantum systems.

Science•Apr 4, 2024•95 citations

Superdiffusion from Emergent Classical Solitons in Quantum Spin Chains

Jacopo De Nardis, Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Enej Ilievski +1 more

Finite-temperature spin transport in the quantum Heisenberg spin chain is known to be superdiffusive, and has been conjectured to lie in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. Using a kinetic theory of transport, we compute the KPZ coupling strength for the Heisenberg chain as a function of temperature, directly from microscopics; the results agree well with density-matrix renormalization group simulations. We establish a rigorous quantum-classical correspondence between the "giant quasiparticles" that govern superdiffusion and solitons in the classical continuous Landau-Lifshitz ferromagnet. We conclude that KPZ universality has the same origin in classical and quantum integrable isotropic magnets: a finite-temperature gas of low-energy classical solitons.

arXiv:2003.13708•Physical Review Letters•Aug 12, 2020•88 citations
The Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class describes the coarse-grained behavior of a wealth of classical stochastic models. Surprisingly, KPZ universality was recently conjectured to also describe spin transport in the one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg model. We tested this conjecture by experimentally probing transport in a cold-atom quantum simulator via the relaxation of domain walls in spin chains of up to 50 spins. We found that domain-wall relaxation is indeed governed by the KPZ dynamical exponent z = 3/2 and that the occurrence of KPZ scaling requires both integrability and a nonabelian SU(2) symmetry. Finally, we leveraged the single-spin–sensitive detection enabled by the quantum gas microscope to measure an observable based on spin-transport statistics. Our results yield a clear signature of the nonlinearity that is a hallmark of KPZ universality.
Isotropic integrable spin chains such as the Heisenberg model feature superdiffusive spin transport belonging to an as-yet-unidentified dynamical universality class closely related to that of Kardar, Parisi, and Zhang (KPZ). To determine whether these results extend to more generic one-dimensional models, particularly those realizable in quantum simulators, we investigate spin and energy transport in non-integrable, long-range Heisenberg models using state-of-the-art tensor network methods. Despite the lack of integrability and the asymptotic expectation of diffusion, for power-law models (with exponent 2<α<∞2 < α< \infty2<α<∞) we observe long-lived z=3/2z=3/2z=3/2 superdiffusive spin transport and two-point correlators consistent with KPZ scaling functions, up to times t∼103/Jt \sim 10^3/Jt∼103/J. We conjecture that this KPZ-like transport is due to the proximity of such power-law-interacting models to the integrable family of Inozemtsev models, which we show to also exhibit KPZ-like spin transport across all interaction ranges. Finally, we consider anisotropic spin models naturally realized in Rydberg atom arrays and ultracold polar molecules, demonstrating that a wide range of long-lived, non-diffusive transport can be observed in experimental settings.
The Heisenberg spin chain is a canonical integrable model. As such, it features stable ballistically propagating quasiparticles, but spin transport is subballistic at any nonzero temperature: An initially localized spin fluctuation spreads in time t to a width t2/3. This exponent as well as the functional form of the dynamical spin correlation function suggest that spin transport is in the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ) universality class. However, the full counting statistics of magnetization is manifestly incompatible with KPZ scaling. A simple two-mode hydrodynamic description, derivable from microscopic principles, captures both the KPZ scaling of the correlation function and the coarse features of the full counting statistics, but remains to be numerically validated. These results generalize to any integrable spin chain invariant under a continuous nonabelian symmetry and are surprisingly robust against moderately strong integrability-breaking perturbations that respect the nonabelian symmetry.
Although the Bethe ansatz solution of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model dates back nearly a century, the anomalous nature of its high-temperature transport dynamics has only recently been uncovered. Indeed, numerical and experimental observations have demonstrated that spin transport in this paradigmatic model falls into the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. This has inspired the significantly stronger conjecture that KPZ dynamics, in fact, occur in all integrable spin chains with non-Abelian symmetry. Here, we provide extensive numerical evidence affirming this conjecture. Moreover, we observe that KPZ transport is even more generic, arising in both supersymmetric and periodically driven models. Motivated by recent advances in the realization of SU(N)-symmetric spin models in alkaline-earth-based optical lattice experiments, we propose and analyze a protocol to directly investigate the KPZ scaling function in such systems.
Integrable spin chains with a continuous non-Abelian symmetry, such as the one-dimensional isotropic Heisenberg model, show superdiffusive transport with little theoretical understanding. Although recent studies reported a surprising connection to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class in that case, this view was most recently questioned by discrepancies in full counting statistics. Here, by combining extensive numerical simulations of classical and quantum integrable isotropic spin chains with a framework developed by exact studies of the KPZ class, we characterize various two-point quantities that remain hitherto unexplored in spin chains, and find full agreement with KPZ scaling laws without adjustable parameters. This establishes the partial emergence of the KPZ class in integrable isotropic spin chains. Moreover, we reveal that the KPZ scaling laws are intact in the presence of an energy current, under the appropriate Galilean boost required by the propagation of spacetime correlation.
Understanding universal aspects of quantum dynamics is an unresolved problem in statistical mechanics. In particular, the spin dynamics of the one-dimensional Heisenberg model were conjectured as to belong to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class based on the scaling of the infinite-temperature spin-spin correlation function. In a chain of 46 superconducting qubits, we studied the probability distribution of the magnetization transferred across the chain's center, [Formula: see text]. The first two moments of [Formula: see text] show superdiffusive behavior, a hallmark of KPZ universality. However, the third and fourth moments ruled out the KPZ conjecture and allow for evaluating other theories. Our results highlight the importance of studying higher moments in determining dynamic universality classes and provide insights into universal behavior in quantum systems.
Finite-temperature spin transport in the quantum Heisenberg spin chain is known to be superdiffusive, and has been conjectured to lie in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. Using a kinetic theory of transport, we compute the KPZ coupling strength for the Heisenberg chain as a function of temperature, directly from microscopics; the results agree well with density-matrix renormalization group simulations. We establish a rigorous quantum-classical correspondence between the "giant quasiparticles" that govern superdiffusion and solitons in the classical continuous Landau-Lifshitz ferromagnet. We conclude that KPZ universality has the same origin in classical and quantum integrable isotropic magnets: a finite-temperature gas of low-energy classical solitons.