Critical lines and ordered phases in a Rydberg-blockade ladder

Journal article

Arrays of Rydberg atoms in the blockade regime realize a wealth of strongly correlated quantum physics, but theoretical analysis beyond the chain is rather difficult. Here we study a tractable model of Rydberg-blockade atoms on the square ladder with a Z2×Z2 symmetry and at most one excited atom per square. We find D4, Z2, and Z3 density-wave phases separated by critical and first-order quantum phase transitions. A noninvertible remnant of U(1) symmetry applies to our full three-parameter space of couplings, and its presence results in a larger critical region as well as two distinct Z3-broken phases. Along an integrable line of couplings, the model exhibits a self-duality that is spontaneously broken along a first-order transition. Aided by numerical results, perturbation theory, and conformal field theory, we also find critical Ising2 and three-state Potts transitions, and provide good evidence that the latter can be chiral.

Authors: Eck, L; Fendley, P

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review B
• Volume: 108
• Issue: 12
• Article number: 125135
• Publication date: 2023-09-21
• Acceptance date: 2023-09-05
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.108.125135
• EISSN: 2469-9969
• ISSN: 2469-9950
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR; molecular and optical physics