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arXiv:2201.08463 · Physical Review A

Motional decoherence in ultracold-Rydberg-atom quantum simulators of spin models

Zewen Zhang, Ming Yuan, Bhuvanesh Sundar, Kaden R. A. Hazzard

Published Nov 27, 2024• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Ultracold Rydberg-atom arrays are an emerging platform for quantum simulation and computing. However, decoherence in these systems remains incompletely understood. Recent experiments [Guardado-Sanchez et al., Phys. Rev. X 8, 021069 (2018)] observed strong decoherence in the quench and longitudinal-field-sweep dynamics of two-dimensional Ising models realized with $^{6}\mathrm{Li}$ Rydberg atoms in optical lattices. This decoherence was conjectured to arise from the effective spin $\frac{1}{2}$ formed by the ground and Rydberg electronic states coupling to atom motion and therefore inducing an effective interaction noise. Here we show that this spin-motion coupling indeed leads to decoherence in qualitative, and often quantitative, agreement with the experimental data, by treating the difficult spin-motion-coupled problem using the discrete truncated Wigner approximation method. We also show that this decoherence will be an important factor to account for in future experiments with Rydberg atoms in optical lattices and microtrap arrays and discuss methods to mitigate the effect of motion, such as using heavier atoms or deeper traps.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.110.053321

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Ultracold Rydberg-atom arrays are an emerging platform for quantum simulation and computing. However, decoherence in these systems remains incompletely understood. Recent experiments [Guardado-Sanchez et al., Phys. Rev. X 8, 021069 (2018)] observed strong decoherence in the quench and longitudinal-field-sweep dynamics of two-dimensional Ising models realized with 6Li^{6}\mathrm{Li}6Li Rydberg atoms in optical lattices. This decoherence was conjectured to arise from the effective spin 12\frac{1}{2}21​ formed by the ground and Rydberg electronic states coupling to atom motion and therefore inducing an effective interaction noise. Here we show that this spin-motion coupling indeed leads to decoherence in qualitative, and often quantitative, agreement with the experimental data, by treating the difficult spin-motion-coupled problem using the discrete truncated Wigner approximation method. We also show that this decoherence will be an important factor to account for in future experiments with Rydberg atoms in optical lattices and microtrap arrays and discuss methods to mitigate the effect of motion, such as using heavier atoms or deeper traps.
Rydberg atoms in optical lattices and tweezers is now a well-established platform for simulating quantum spin systems. However, the role of the atoms' spatial wave function has not been examined in detail experimentally. Here, we show a strong spin-motion coupling emerging from the large variation of the interaction potential over the wave function spread. We observe its clear signature on the ultrafast many-body nanosecond-dynamics of atoms excited to a Rydberg S state, using picosecond pulses, from an unity-filling atomic Mott-insulator. We also propose an approach to tune arbitrarily the strength of the spin-motion coupling relative to the motional energy scale set by trapping potentials. Our work provides a new direction for exploring the dynamics of strongly correlated quantum systems by adding the motional degree of freedom to the Rydberg simulation toolbox.
Abstract Quantum Ising models are canonical models for the study of quantum phase transitions (Sachdev 1999 Quantum Phase Transitions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)) and are the underlying concept for many analogue quantum computing and quantum annealing ideas (Tanaka et al Quantum Spin Glasses, Annealing and Computation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)). Here we focus on the implementation of finite-range interacting Ising spin models, which are barely tractable numerically. Recent experiments with cold atoms have reached the interaction-dominated regime in quantum Ising magnets via optical coupling of trapped neutral atoms to Rydberg states. This approach allows for the tunability of all relevant terms in an Ising spin Hamiltonian with 1 / r 6 interactions in transverse and longitudinal fields. This review summarizes the recent progress of these implementations in Rydberg lattices with site-resolved detection. Strong correlations in quantum Ising models have been observed in several experiments, starting from a single excitation in the superatom regime up to the point of crystallization. The rapid progress in this field makes spin systems based on Rydberg atoms a promising platform for quantum simulation because of the unmatched flexibility and strength of interactions combined with high control and good isolation from the environment.
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Interacting quantum spin models are remarkably useful for describing different types of physical, chemical, and biological systems.Significant understanding of their equilibrium properties has been achieved to date, especially for the case of spin models with short-range couplings.However, progress toward the development of a comparable understanding in long-range interacting models, in particular out-of-equilibrium, remains limited.In a recent work, we proposed a semiclassical numerical method to study spin models, the discrete truncated Wigner approximation (DTWA), and demonstrated its capability to correctly capture the dynamics of one-and two-point correlations in one-dimensional (1D) systems.Here we go one step forward and use the DTWA method to study the dynamics of correlations in two-dimensional (2D) systems with many spins and different types of long-range couplings, in regimes where other numerical methods are generally unreliable.We compute spatial and time-dependent correlations for spin-couplings that decay with distance as a power-law and determine the velocity at which correlations propagate through the system.Sharp changes in the behavior of those velocities are found as a function of the power-law decay exponent.Our predictions are relevant for a broad range of systems including solid state materials, atom-photon systems and ultracold gases of polar molecules, trapped ions, Rydberg, and magnetic atoms.We validate the DTWA predictions for small 2D systems and 1D systems, but ultimately, in the spirt of quantum simulation, experiments will be needed to confirm our predictions for large 2D systems.
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.
Ising models, and the physical systems described by them, play a central role in generating entangled states for use in quantum metrology and quantum information.In particular, ultracold atomic gases, trapped ion systems, and Rydberg atoms realize long-ranged Ising models, which even in the absence of a transverse field can give rise to highly non-classical dynamics and long-range quantum correlations.In the first part of this paper, we present a detailed theoretical framework for studying the dynamics of such systems driven (at time t = 0) into arbitrary unentangled non-equilibrium states, thus greatly extending and unifying the work of Foss-Feig et al (2013 Phys.Rev. A 87 042101).Specifically, we derive exact expressions for closed-time-path ordered correlation functions, and use these to study experimentally relevant observables, e.g.Bloch vector and spin-squeezing dynamics.In the second part, these correlation functions are then used to derive closed-form expressions for the dynamics of arbitrary spin-spin correlation functions in the presence 5