Erlangen 2022 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 13: Quantum Gases (Bosons) III
Q 13.7: Talk
Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 12:00–12:15, Q-H10
Thermalization dynamics of a gauge theory on a quantum simulator — Guo-Xian Su1, Zhao-Yu Zhou1, Jad Halimeh2, •Robert Ott3, Hui Sun1, Philipp Hauke2, Bing Yang4, Zhen-Sheng Yuan1, Jürgen Berges3, and Jian-Wei Pan1 — 1Physikalisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany — 2INO-CNR BEC Center and Department of Physics, University of Trento, Trento, Italy — 3Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany — 4Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Gauge theories form the foundation of modern physics, with applications ranging from elementary particle physics to early-universe cosmology. We demonstrate emergent irreversible behavior, such as the approach to thermal equilibrium, by quantum simulating the fundamental unitary dynamics of a U(1) symmetric gauge field theory. This is made possible through the experimental implementation of a large-scale cold atomic system in an optical lattice. The highly constrained gauge theory dynamics is encoded in a one-dimensional Bose–Hubbard simulator, which couples fermionic matter fields through dynamical gauge fields. We investigate global quantum quenches and the equilibration to a steady state well approximated by a thermal ensemble. Our work establishes a new realm for the investigation of elusive phenomena and paves the way for more complex higher-dimensional gauge theories on quantum synthetic matter devices.