Quantum coarsening and collective dynamics on a programmable simulator

Understand

Understanding the collective quantum dynamics of nonequilibrium many-body systems is an outstanding challenge in quantum science.

• In particular, dynamics driven by quantum fluctuations are important for the formation of exotic quantum phases of matter, fundamental high-energy processes, quantum metrology, and quantum algorithms.
• Here, we use a programmable quantum simulator based on Rydberg atom arrays to experimentally study collective dynamics across a (2+1)D Ising quantum phase transition.
• After crossing the quantum critical point, we observe a gradual growth of correlations through coarsening of antiferromagnetically ordered domains.