Probing false vacuum decay on a cold-atom gauge-theory quantum simulator
Nov 19, 2024
e-Print:
- 2411.12565 [cond-mat.quant-gas]
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Abstract: (arXiv)
In the context of quantum electrodynamics, the decay of false vacuum leads to the production of electron-positron pair, a phenomenon known as the Schwinger effect. In practical experimental scenarios, producing a pair requires an extremely strong electric field, thus suppressing the production rate and making this process very challenging to observe. Here we report an experimental investigation, in a cold-atom quantum simulator, of the effect of the background field on pair production from the infinite-mass vacuum in a D lattice gauge theory. The ability to tune the background field allows us to study pair production in a large production rate regime. Furthermore, we find that the energy spectrum of the time-evolved observables in the zero mass limit displays excitation peaks analogous to bosonic modes in the Schwinger model. Our work opens the door to quantum-simulation experiments that can controllably tune the production of pairs and manipulate their far-from-equilibrium dynamics.References(78)
Figures(10)
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