Chepiga Natalia, Mila Frédéric
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, Postbus 94485, 1090 GL, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Quantum Nanoscience, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ, Delft, The Netherlands.
Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 18;12(1):414. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20641-y.
Chains of Rydberg atoms have emerged as an amazing playground to study quantum physics in 1D. Playing with inter-atomic distances and laser detuning, one can in particular explore the commensurate-incommensurate transition out of density waves through the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, and the possible presence of a chiral transition with dynamical exponent z > 1. Here, we address this problem theoretically with effective blockade models where the short-distance repulsions are replaced by a constraint of no double occupancy. For the period-4 phase, we show that there is an Ashkin-Teller transition point with exponent ν = 0.78 surrounded by a direct chiral transition with a dynamical exponent z = 1.11 and a Kibble-Zurek exponent μ = 0.41. For Rydberg atoms with a van der Waals potential, we suggest that the experimental value μ = 0.25 is due to a chiral transition with z ≃ 1.9 and ν ≃ 0.47 surrounding an Ashkin-Teller transition close to the 4-state Potts universality.
里德堡原子链已成为在一维空间中研究量子物理的一个惊人平台。通过调整原子间距离和激光失谐，人们尤其可以通过基布尔 - 祖雷克机制探索密度波的 commensurate - incommensurate 转变，以及可能存在的具有动力学指数 z > 1 的手征转变。在此，我们用有效阻塞模型从理论上解决这个问题，其中短程排斥作用被无双重占据的约束所取代。对于周期为 4 的相，我们表明存在一个指数 ν = 0.78 的阿什金 - 泰勒转变点，其周围是一个动力学指数 z = 1.11 和基布尔 - 祖雷克指数 μ = 0.41 的直接手征转变。对于具有范德瓦尔斯势的里德堡原子，我们认为实验值 μ = 0.25 是由于围绕接近 4 态Potts普适性的阿什金 - 泰勒转变的一个 z ≃ 1.9 和 ν ≃ 0.47 的手征转变所致。
