Synthetic U(1) Gauge Invariance in a Spin-1 Bose Gas

Recent experimental realizations of the lattice Schwinger model [Nature 587, 392 (2020) and Science 367, 1128 (2020)] open a door for quantum simulation of elementary particles and their interactions using ultracold atoms, in which the matter and gauge fields are constrained by a local U(1) gauge in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2023-03
Main Authors: Gao, Chunping, Liu, Jinghu, Chang, Maolin, Han, Pu, Chen, Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bose-Einstein condensates
Elementary particles
Gauge invariance
Invariance
Ising model
Phase diagrams
Phase transitions
Scars
Simulation
Simulators
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Recent experimental realizations of the lattice Schwinger model [Nature 587, 392 (2020) and Science 367, 1128 (2020)] open a door for quantum simulation of elementary particles and their interactions using ultracold atoms, in which the matter and gauge fields are constrained by a local U(1) gauge invariance known as the Gauss's law. Stimulated by such exciting progress, we propose a new scenario in simulating the lattice Schwinger model in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate. It is shown that our model naturally contains an interaction of the matter fields which respects the U(1) gauge symmetry but has no counterpart in the conventional Schwinger model. In addition to the Z2-ordered phase identified in the previous work, this additional interaction leads to a new Z3-ordered phase. We map out a rich phase diagram and identify that the continuous phase transitions from the disordered to the Z2-ordered and the Z3-ordered phases belong to the Ising and the 3-state Potts universality classes, respectively. Furthermore, the two ordered phases each possess a set of quantum scars which give rise to anomalous quantum dynamics when quenched to a special point in the phase diagram. Our proposal provides a novel platform for extracting emergent physics in cold-atom-based quantum simulators with gauge symmetries.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2204.11007