Observation of Near-Critical Kibble-Zurek Scaling in Rydberg Atom Arrays
ORAL
Abstract
While finite-size effects and symmetry-breaking perturbations typically smear a critical point into a smooth crossover, we experimentally demonstrate that the precise Kibble-Zurek scaling can be retained in this near-critical crossover regime without strictly crossing the phase transition. The essential requirement is to appropriately scale both the system size and the symmetry-breaking field with the ramp speed. Using a reconfigurable Rydberg atom array—where the Rydberg blockade mediates a Z₂ symmetry-breaking transition—we achieve precise control over the system size and an effective symmetry-breaking field via a zigzag geometry. We show a notable contrast in the fidelity of Kibble-Zurek scaling when these parameters are or are not scaled correctly. Our findings reinforce the utility of Kibble-Zurek scaling as a robust tool for probing near-critical dynamics in quantum simulators.
*National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 92165203 (W.C.), No. 92476110 (J.H.), No. 12488301(H.Z.) and No. U23A6004 (H.Z.), National Key Research and Development Program of China No. 2021YFA1400904 (W.C.), No. 2021YFA0718303(J.H.), No. 2023YFA1406702 (W.C. and H.Z.), Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program and Dushi Program (C.L. J.H. H.Z. W.C.), the XPLORER Prize (H.Z.), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant No. 2024M751609 (H.W.) and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF under Grant No. GZC20231364 (H.W.).
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Publication:T. Zhang, H. Wang, W. Zhang, Y. Wang, A. Du, Z. Li, Y. Wu, C. Li, J. Hu, H. Zhai, and W. Chen, Observation of near-critical Kibble-Zurek scaling in Rydberg atom arrays, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 093403 (2025).
