Tensor-network study of correlation-spreading dynamics in the two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model

Recent developments in analog quantum simulators based on cold atoms and trapped ions call for cross-validating the accuracy of quantum-simulation experiments with use of quantitative numerical methods; however, it is particularly challenging for dynamics of systems with more than one spatial dimension. Here we demonstrate that a tensor-network method running on classical computers is useful for this purpose. We specifically analyze real-time dynamics of the two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model after a sudden quench starting from the Mott insulator by means of the tensor-network method based on infinite projected entangled pair states. Calculated single-particle correlation functions are found to be in good agreement with a recent experiment. By estimating the phase and group velocities from the single-particle and density-density correlation functions, we predict how these velocities vary in the moderate interaction region, which serves as a quantitative benchmark for future experiments and numerical simulations.