No Arabic abstract
Is there a quantum many-body system that scrambles information as fast as a black hole? The Sachev-Ye-Kitaev model can saturate the conjectured bound for chaos, but it requires random all-to-all couplings of Majorana fermions that are hard to realize in experiments. Here we examine a quantum spin model of randomly oriented dipoles where the spin exchange is governed by dipole-dipole interactions. The model is inspired by recent experiments on dipolar spin systems of magnetic atoms, dipolar molecules, and nitrogen-vacancy centers. We map out the phase diagram of this model by computing the energy level statistics, spectral form factor, and out-of-time-order correlation (OTOC) functions. We find a broad regime of many-body chaos where the energy levels obey Wigner-Dyson statistics and the OTOC shows distinctive behaviors at different times: Its early-time dynamics is characterized by an exponential growth, while the approach to its saturated value at late times obeys a power law. The temperature scaling of the Lyapunov exponent $lambda_L$ shows that while it is well below the conjectured bound $2pi T$ at high temperatures, $lambda_L$ approaches the bound at low temperatures and for large number of spins.
The recent experimental realization of a three-dimensional (3D) optical lattice clock not only reduces the influence of collisional interactions on the clocks accuracy but also provides a promising platform for studying dipolar many-body quantum physics. Here, by solving the governing master equation, we investigate the role of both elastic and dissipative long-range interactions in the clocks dynamics and study its dependence on lattice spacing, dimensionality, and dipolar orientation. For small lattice spacing, i.e., $k_0all 1$, where $a$ is the lattice constant and $k_0$ is the transition wavenumber, a sizable spin squeezing appears in the transient state which is favored in a head-to-tail dipolar configuration in 1D systems and a side-by-side configuration in 2D systems, respectively. For large lattice spacing, i.e., $k_0agg 1$, the single atomic decay rate can be effectively suppressed due to the destructive dissipative emission of neighboring atoms in both 1D and 2D. Our results will not only aid in the design of the future generation of ultraprecise atomic clocks but also illuminates the rich many-body physics exhibited by radiating dipolar system.
Experiments on quantum degenerate Fermi gases of magnetic atoms and dipolar molecules begin to probe their broken symmetry phases dominated by the long-range, anisotropic dipole-dipole interaction. Several candidate phases including the p-wave superfluid, the stripe density wave, and a supersolid have been proposed theoretically for two-dimensional spinless dipolar Fermi gases. Yet the phase boundaries predicted by different approximations vary greatly, and a definitive phase diagram is still lacking. Here we present a theory that treats all competing many-body instabilities in the particle-particle and particle-hole channel on equal footing. We obtain the low temperature phase diagram by numerically solving the functional renormalization-group flow equations and find a nontrivial density wave phase at small dipolar tilting angles and strong interactions, but no evidence of the supersolid phase. We also estimate the critical temperatures of the ordered phases.
Understanding quantum thermalization through entanglement build-up in isolated quantum systems addresses fundamental questions on how unitary dynamics connects to statistical physics. Here, we study the spin dynamics and approach towards local thermal equilibrium of a macroscopic ensemble of S = 3 spins prepared in a pure coherent spin state, tilted compared to the magnetic field, under the effect of magnetic dipole-dipole interactions. The experiment uses a unit filled array of 104 chromium atoms in a three dimensional optical lattice, realizing the spin-3 XXZ Heisenberg model. The buildup of quantum correlation during the dynamics, especially as the angle approaches pi/2, is supported by comparison with an improved numerical quantum phase-space method and further confirmed by the observation that our isolated system thermalizes under its own dynamics, reaching a steady state consistent with the one extracted from a thermal ensemble with a temperature dictated from the systems energy. This indicates a scenario of quantum thermalization which is tied to the growth of entanglement entropy. Although direct experimental measurements of the Renyi entropy in our macroscopic system are unfeasible, the excellent agreement with the theory, which can compute this entropy, does indicate entanglement build-up.
We analyze the propagation of correlations after a sudden interaction change in a strongly interacting quantum system in contact with an environment. In particular, we consider an interaction quench in the Bose-Hubbard model, deep within the Mott-insulating phase, under the effect of dephasing. We observe that dissipation effectively speeds up the propagation of single-particle correlations while reducing their coherence. In contrast, for two-point density correlations, the initial ballistic propagation regime gives way to diffusion at intermediate times. Numerical simulations, based on a time-dependent matrix product state algorithm, are supplemented by a quantitatively accurate fermionic quasi-particle approach providing an intuitive description of the initial dynamics in terms of holon and doublon excitations.
Caustics are a striking phenomena in natural optics and hydrodynamics: high-amplitude characteristic patterns that are singular in the short wavelength limit. We use exact numerical and approximate semiclassical analytic methods to study quant