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:2307.04471 · Physical Review A

Phonon-assisted coherent transport of excitations in Rydberg-dressed atom arrays

Arkadiusz Kosior, S. J. J. M. F. Kokkelmans, Maciej Lewenstein, Jakub Zakrzewski, Marcin Płodzień

Published Oct 23, 2023• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Polarons, which arise from the self-trapping interaction between electrons and lattice distortions in a solid, have been known and extensively investigated for nearly a century. Nevertheless, the study of polarons continues to be an active and evolving field, with ongoing advancements in both fundamental understanding and practical applications. Here, we present a microscopic model that exhibits a diverse range of dynamic behavior, arising from the intricate interplay between two excitation-phonon coupling terms. The derivation of the model is based on an experimentally feasible Rydberg-dressed system with dipole-dipole interactions, making it a promising candidate for realization in a Rydberg atoms quantum simulator for excitation dynamics interacting with optical phonons. Remarkably, our analysis reveals a growing asymmetry in Bloch oscillations, leading to a macroscopic transport of nonspreading excitations under a constant force. Finally, we demonstrate the robustness of our findings against on-site random potential.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.108.043308

Related papers

Analog quantum simulation of small-polaron physics in arrays of neutral atoms with Rydberg-dressed resonant dipole-dipole interaction

Vladimir M. Stojanović

Recent years have seen growing interest in sharp polaronic transitions in systems with strongly momentum-dependent interactions of an itinerant excitation (electron, hole, exciton) with dispersionless phonons. This work presents a scheme for investigating such phenomena in a controllable fashion within the framework of an analog quantum simulator based on an array of neutral atoms in optical tweezers. The envisioned analog simulator, in which the atoms interact through Rydberg-dressed resonant dipole-dipole interaction, allows one to study the rich interplay of Peierls- and breathing-mode-type excitation-phonon interactions. Based on a numerically-exact treatment of one special case of this system -- namely, the case with equal Peierls- and breathing-mode coupling strengths -- a sharp small-polaron transition was shown to take place for a critical value of the effective excitation-phonon coupling strength. This transition signifies the change from a completely bare (undressed by phonons) excitation below the transition point and a strongly phonon-dressed one (small polaron) above it. This work also highlights the comparative advantages of highly-controllable Rydberg-atom-based systems to other physical platforms for simulating polaronic phenomenology, which could be exploited to study the nonequilibrium dynamics of the small-polaron formation.

arXiv:2412.19305•Dec 26, 2024•0 citations

Programmable Polaron Models and Tomography in Trapped-Ion Quantum Simulators

Filip Marijanovic, Utso Bhattacharya, Abhishek Menon +3 more

Strong coupling between mobile charge carriers or excitons and lattice vibrations gives rise to polarons: quasiparticles formed by charge carriers dressed by a cloud of phonon excitations. Polaron formation determines transport properties of systems ranging from transition-metal oxides and organic semiconductors to light-harvesting complexes. In excitonic systems that admit a hard-core boson description, mapping the excitations to pseudospins provides a natural framework for studying polaron physics, including the nonperturbative regime in which hopping amplitudes, phonon energies, and coupling strengths are comparable. Here, we propose a trapped-ion blueprint for realizing spin-phonon Hamiltonians with programmable spatial coupling between excitation density and phonon displacements, encompassing local Holstein and long-range Fröhlich-type interactions. To access strongly dressed quasiparticles whose bare spectral weight is suppressed, we introduce displaced Green's functions implemented through spin-dependent phonon displacements. Their spectral response reveals the polaron band spectrum, including binding energies and phonon-excitation sidebands, while spatially resolved measurements probe the structure of the phonon dressing cloud, providing a route to polaron tomography. We further complement this spectroscopy with direct and ancilla-assisted measurements of spin-phonon correlations that track the coupled dynamics of the excitation and its environment. These approaches connect the emergent quasiparticle spectrum to the microscopic buildup of its dressing cloud, enabling controlled studies of how the spatial range of coupling shapes polaron formation and mobility.

quant-pharXiv:2610.18970•Oct 15, 2026•0 citations

Quantum-Noise Induced Localization and Motional Squeezing in a Rydberg Quantum Simulator

Bock, Benno, Daniel Brady, Michael Fleischhauer

We investigate the interplay between mechanical forces and the internal-state dynamics of Rydberg excitations in atom-tweezer arrays. Dipole interactions between Rydberg atoms facilitate excitation spreading, but at the same time couple electronic (spin) degrees of freedom with motional (phonon) states. With increasing spin-phonon coupling, the growth dynamics of a cluster of excited Rydberg atoms changes from ballistic spreading to Bloch-like oscillations and eventually to Anderson-like localization. We show that these effects are caused by quantum fluctuations in the phonon field: The dynamics of a Rydberg cluster can be mapped to a single particle in a semi-infinite lattice subject to phonon-induced energy shifts. The mean-field contribution of this energy shift leads to a linear potential gradient, resulting into Bloch-like oscillations. In addition, quantum fluctuations of phonons create a random local potential causing a transition from a regime of Bloch oscillations to localization. The spin-phonon coupling leads furthermore to highly correlated and non-classical phonon states in the form of squeezed states of the position of the Rydberg atoms. Depending on the form of the dipolar interaction potential, either in- or out-of-phase correlated oscillations of atoms emerge.

arXiv:2504.19679•Apr 28, 2025•0 citations

Polaron-Polaritons in Subwavelength Arrays of Trapped Atoms

Kristian Knakkergaard Nielsen, Lukas Wangler, David Castells-Graells +4 more

Subwavelength arrays of atoms trapped in optical lattices or tweezers are inherently susceptible to deformations: Optomechanical forces displace atoms within their trapping potential and produce lattice distortions, which in turn modify the optical response of the array. We show that this optomechanical coupling hybridizes collective atomic excitations (polaritons) with phonons, forming polaron-polaritons -- the fundamental quasiparticles governing light-matter interactions in arrays of trapped atoms. Using analytical polaron theory and numerical simulations, we find that: (1) phonons can strongly enhance the decay of subradiant states, but also enable their efficient excitation; (2) transport of dark excitations remains remarkably robust even at low trap frequencies, except when a polariton can resonantly scatter phonons; and (3) motion reduces the reflectivity of a two-dimensional atomic mirror; by identifying design principles that mitigate this degradation, we recover reflectivity above 99% under realistic conditions. Our findings lay the foundation for analyzing motional effects in key applications and suggest new ways to harness them in state-of-the-art experiments.

quant-pharXiv:2601.21062•Jan 30, 2026•0 citations

Vibrational Dressing in Kinetically Constrained Rydberg Spin Systems

Paolo P. Mazza, Richard Schmidt, Igor Lesanovsky

Quantum spin systems with kinetic constraints have become paradigmatic for exploring collective dynamical behavior in many-body systems. Here we discuss a facilitated spin system which is inspired by recent progress in the realization of Rydberg quantum simulators. This platform allows to control and investigate the interplay between facilitation dynamics and the coupling of spin degrees of freedom to lattice vibrations. Developing a minimal model, we show that this leads to the formation of polaronic quasiparticle excitations which are formed by many-body spin states dressed by phonons. We investigate in detail the properties of these quasiparticles, such as their dispersion relation, effective mass, and the quasiparticle weight. Rydberg lattice quantum simulators are particularly suited for studying this phonon-dressed kinetically constrained dynamics as their exaggerated length scales permit the site-resolved monitoring of spin and phonon degrees of freedom.

arXiv:2003.00034•Physical Review Letters•Jul 14, 2020•32 citations

Transport on flexible Rydberg aggregates using circular states

Mohammad Mujahid Aliyu, Alptuğ Ulugöl, Ghassan Abumwis +1 more

Assemblies of interacting Rydberg atoms show promise for the quantum simulation of transport phenomena, quantum chemistry, and condensed-matter systems. Such schemes are typically limited by the finite lifetime of Rydberg states. Circular Rydberg states have the longest lifetimes among Rydberg states but lack the energetic isolation in the spectrum characteristic of low-angular-momentum states. The latter is required to obtain simple transport models with few electronic states per atom. Simple models can, however, even be realized with circular states by exploiting dipole-dipole selection rules or external fields. We show here that this approach can be particularly fruitful for scenarios where quantum transport is coupled to atomic motion, such as adiabatic excitation transport or quantum simulations of electron-phonon coupling in light harvesting. Additionally, we explore practical limitations of flexible Rydberg aggregates with circular states and to which extent interactions among circular Rydberg atoms can be described using classical models.

arXiv:1807.06840•Physical Review A•Oct 1, 2018•5 citations
Polarons, which arise from the self-trapping interaction between electrons and lattice distortions in a solid, have been known and extensively investigated for nearly a century. Nevertheless, the study of polarons continues to be an active and evolving field, with ongoing advancements in both fundamental understanding and practical applications. Here, we present a microscopic model that exhibits a diverse range of dynamic behavior, arising from the intricate interplay between two excitation-phonon coupling terms. The derivation of the model is based on an experimentally feasible Rydberg-dressed system with dipole-dipole interactions, making it a promising candidate for realization in a Rydberg atoms quantum simulator for excitation dynamics interacting with optical phonons. Remarkably, our analysis reveals a growing asymmetry in Bloch oscillations, leading to a macroscopic transport of nonspreading excitations under a constant force. Finally, we demonstrate the robustness of our findings against on-site random potential.
Recent years have seen growing interest in sharp polaronic transitions in systems with strongly momentum-dependent interactions of an itinerant excitation (electron, hole, exciton) with dispersionless phonons. This work presents a scheme for investigating such phenomena in a controllable fashion within the framework of an analog quantum simulator based on an array of neutral atoms in optical tweezers. The envisioned analog simulator, in which the atoms interact through Rydberg-dressed resonant dipole-dipole interaction, allows one to study the rich interplay of Peierls- and breathing-mode-type excitation-phonon interactions. Based on a numerically-exact treatment of one special case of this system -- namely, the case with equal Peierls- and breathing-mode coupling strengths -- a sharp small-polaron transition was shown to take place for a critical value of the effective excitation-phonon coupling strength. This transition signifies the change from a completely bare (undressed by phonons) excitation below the transition point and a strongly phonon-dressed one (small polaron) above it. This work also highlights the comparative advantages of highly-controllable Rydberg-atom-based systems to other physical platforms for simulating polaronic phenomenology, which could be exploited to study the nonequilibrium dynamics of the small-polaron formation.
Strong coupling between mobile charge carriers or excitons and lattice vibrations gives rise to polarons: quasiparticles formed by charge carriers dressed by a cloud of phonon excitations. Polaron formation determines transport properties of systems ranging from transition-metal oxides and organic semiconductors to light-harvesting complexes. In excitonic systems that admit a hard-core boson description, mapping the excitations to pseudospins provides a natural framework for studying polaron physics, including the nonperturbative regime in which hopping amplitudes, phonon energies, and coupling strengths are comparable. Here, we propose a trapped-ion blueprint for realizing spin-phonon Hamiltonians with programmable spatial coupling between excitation density and phonon displacements, encompassing local Holstein and long-range Fröhlich-type interactions. To access strongly dressed quasiparticles whose bare spectral weight is suppressed, we introduce displaced Green's functions implemented through spin-dependent phonon displacements. Their spectral response reveals the polaron band spectrum, including binding energies and phonon-excitation sidebands, while spatially resolved measurements probe the structure of the phonon dressing cloud, providing a route to polaron tomography. We further complement this spectroscopy with direct and ancilla-assisted measurements of spin-phonon correlations that track the coupled dynamics of the excitation and its environment. These approaches connect the emergent quasiparticle spectrum to the microscopic buildup of its dressing cloud, enabling controlled studies of how the spatial range of coupling shapes polaron formation and mobility.
We investigate the interplay between mechanical forces and the internal-state dynamics of Rydberg excitations in atom-tweezer arrays. Dipole interactions between Rydberg atoms facilitate excitation spreading, but at the same time couple electronic (spin) degrees of freedom with motional (phonon) states. With increasing spin-phonon coupling, the growth dynamics of a cluster of excited Rydberg atoms changes from ballistic spreading to Bloch-like oscillations and eventually to Anderson-like localization. We show that these effects are caused by quantum fluctuations in the phonon field: The dynamics of a Rydberg cluster can be mapped to a single particle in a semi-infinite lattice subject to phonon-induced energy shifts. The mean-field contribution of this energy shift leads to a linear potential gradient, resulting into Bloch-like oscillations. In addition, quantum fluctuations of phonons create a random local potential causing a transition from a regime of Bloch oscillations to localization. The spin-phonon coupling leads furthermore to highly correlated and non-classical phonon states in the form of squeezed states of the position of the Rydberg atoms. Depending on the form of the dipolar interaction potential, either in- or out-of-phase correlated oscillations of atoms emerge.
Subwavelength arrays of atoms trapped in optical lattices or tweezers are inherently susceptible to deformations: Optomechanical forces displace atoms within their trapping potential and produce lattice distortions, which in turn modify the optical response of the array. We show that this optomechanical coupling hybridizes collective atomic excitations (polaritons) with phonons, forming polaron-polaritons -- the fundamental quasiparticles governing light-matter interactions in arrays of trapped atoms. Using analytical polaron theory and numerical simulations, we find that: (1) phonons can strongly enhance the decay of subradiant states, but also enable their efficient excitation; (2) transport of dark excitations remains remarkably robust even at low trap frequencies, except when a polariton can resonantly scatter phonons; and (3) motion reduces the reflectivity of a two-dimensional atomic mirror; by identifying design principles that mitigate this degradation, we recover reflectivity above 99% under realistic conditions. Our findings lay the foundation for analyzing motional effects in key applications and suggest new ways to harness them in state-of-the-art experiments.
Quantum spin systems with kinetic constraints have become paradigmatic for exploring collective dynamical behavior in many-body systems. Here we discuss a facilitated spin system which is inspired by recent progress in the realization of Rydberg quantum simulators. This platform allows to control and investigate the interplay between facilitation dynamics and the coupling of spin degrees of freedom to lattice vibrations. Developing a minimal model, we show that this leads to the formation of polaronic quasiparticle excitations which are formed by many-body spin states dressed by phonons. We investigate in detail the properties of these quasiparticles, such as their dispersion relation, effective mass, and the quasiparticle weight. Rydberg lattice quantum simulators are particularly suited for studying this phonon-dressed kinetically constrained dynamics as their exaggerated length scales permit the site-resolved monitoring of spin and phonon degrees of freedom.
Assemblies of interacting Rydberg atoms show promise for the quantum simulation of transport phenomena, quantum chemistry, and condensed-matter systems. Such schemes are typically limited by the finite lifetime of Rydberg states. Circular Rydberg states have the longest lifetimes among Rydberg states but lack the energetic isolation in the spectrum characteristic of low-angular-momentum states. The latter is required to obtain simple transport models with few electronic states per atom. Simple models can, however, even be realized with circular states by exploiting dipole-dipole selection rules or external fields. We show here that this approach can be particularly fruitful for scenarios where quantum transport is coupled to atomic motion, such as adiabatic excitation transport or quantum simulations of electron-phonon coupling in light harvesting. Additionally, we explore practical limitations of flexible Rydberg aggregates with circular states and to which extent interactions among circular Rydberg atoms can be described using classical models.