Probing quantum floating phases in Rydberg atom arrays
Abstract
The floating phase, a critical incommensurate phase, has been theoretically predicted as a potential intermediate phase between crystalline ordered and disordered phases. In this study, we investigate the different quantum phases that arise in ladder arrays comprising up to 92 neutral-atom qubits and experimentally observe the emergence of the quantum floating phase. We analyze the site-resolved Rydberg state densities and the distribution of state occurrences. The site-resolved measurement reveals the formation of domain walls within the commensurate ordered phase, which subsequently proliferate and give rise to the floating phase with incommensurate quasi-long-range order. By analyzing the Fourier spectra of the Rydberg density-density correlations, we observe clear signatures of the incommensurate wave order of the floating phase. Furthermore, as the experimental system sizes increase, we show that the wave vectors approach a continuum of values incommensurate with the lattice. Our work motivates future studies to further explore the nature of commensurate-incommensurate phase transitions and their non-equilibrium physics.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2401.08087,
title = {Probing quantum floating phases in Rydberg atom arrays},
author = {Jin Zhang and Sergio H. Cantú and Fangli Liu and Alexei Bylinskii and Boris Braverman and Florian Huber and Jesse Amato-Grill and Alexander Lukin and Nathan Gemelke and Alexander Keesling and Sheng-Tao Wang and Y. Meurice and S. -W. Tsai},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.08087},
year = {2024}
}
Comments
27 pages, 21 figures