Project Details
Projekt
Nonergodic dynamics in lattice gauge theories
Applicants
Dr. Mari Carmen Bañuls; Professor Dr. Markus Philip Ludwig Heyl; Professor Dr. Roderich Moessner
Subject Area
Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
Term
since 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 499180199
It is the central goal of this proposed research project to advance the understanding of general dynamical behaviors in lattice gauge theories and to identify suitable experimental signatures and probes of these behaviors for realizations in ultracold quantum gases. Gauge theories play a central role in physics, ranging from the study of elementary particles all the way to strongly correlated and topological quantum matter. While their equilibrium properties have been explored extensively for decades, their nonequilibrium quantum real-time dynamics has attracted significant attention only recently, driven particularly by strong experimental efforts such as in ultracold quantum gases. From the perspective of this research unit, gauge theories are of fundamental interest because of the local gauge symmetries they constitutively exhibit. By Noether’s theorem, the presence of these local symmetries implies the existence of an extensive number of local integrals of motion. Consequently, gauge theories exhibit intrinsically constrained dynamics. These constraints can be so strong so as to even lead to nonergodic behavior. In this project we will address central challenges in the theory of such gauge-symmetry driven disorder-free localization including the identification of suitable and feasible experimental probes in ultracold quantum gases. In particular, we will aim for lattice gauge theories in two and three spatial dimensions, which for nonequilibrium quantum dynamical properties is an especially difficult regime. For that purpose we will use and further develop advanced numerical techniques such as variational classical networks or neural quantum states, which operate at the interface between quantum many-body theory and machine learning. Based on these methodological approaches we will study gauge-symmetry driven disorder-free localization in a two-dimensional lattice gauge theory including fermionic matter, which realizes an emergent strong-coupling version of quantum electrodynamics. We will further explore such nonergodic behavior in lattice gauge theories even in three spatial dimensions. The grand goal of these efforts will be to explore new kinds of dynamical quantum phases, which are only possible for nonergodic quantum matter by lifting fundamental constraints imposed by equilibrium statistical ensembles. It is our expectation that the proposed research will significantly advance the general understanding of dynamical behaviors in gauge theories. We further expect that this research will provide new methods for calculating the dynamics in lattice gauge theories and for characterizing the resulting dynamical behaviors with a particular scope on their identification in systems of ultracold quantum gases.
DFG Programme
Research Units
