Dynamics of a hole in a quantum antiferromagnet

Understanding the properties of a single mobile hole doped into an antiferromagnet allows one to reveal the interplay of spin and charge degrees of freedom. This constitutes a crucial step in the theoretical description of the Fermi-Hubbard model and by extension, strongly correlated cuprate compounds. We experimentally study the dynamical deconfinement of spin and charge excitations in real space in one dimensional Fermi-Hubbard chains of ultracold atoms. Using space- and time-resolved quantum gas microscopy, we track the evolution of the excitations through their signatures in spin and charge correlations. We numerically study the real-time dynamics of a single hole created in the ground state of the t−J model on a square lattice. Initially, the hole spreads ballistically with a velocity proportional to the hopping matrix element. At intermediate to long times, the hole propagates again ballistically but with a velocity proportional to the spin exchange coupling, showing the formation of a magnetic polaron. We provide an intuitive explanation of this dynamics in terms of a parton construction.