U(1) lattice gauge theory and string roughening on a triangular Rydberg array
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866915779069345792 |
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| author | Bombieri, Lisa Zache, Torsten V. Pichler, Hannes González-Cuadra, Daniel |
| author_facet | Bombieri, Lisa Zache, Torsten V. Pichler, Hannes González-Cuadra, Daniel |
| contents | Lattice gauge theories (LGTs) describe fundamental interactions in particle physics. A central phenomenon in these theories is confinement, which binds quarks and antiquarks into hadrons through the formation of string-like flux tubes of gauge fields. Simulating confinement dynamics is a challenging task, but recent advances in quantum simulation are enabling the exploration of LGTs in regimes beyond the reach of classical computation. For analog devices, a major difficulty is the realization of strong plaquette interactions, which generate string fluctuations that can drive a roughening transition. Understanding string roughening -- where strong transversal functions lead to an effective restoration of translational symmetry at long distances -- is of central importance in the study of confinement. In this work, we show that string roughening emerges naturally in an analog Rydberg quantum simulator. We first map a triangular Rydberg array onto a (2+1)D U(1) LGT where plaquette terms appear as first-order processes. We study flux strings connecting static charges and demonstrate that, near a deconfined quantum critical point, the string exhibits logarithmic growth of its transverse width as the separation between charges increases, along with the universal Lüscher correction to the confining potential -- both signatures of string roughening. Finally, we investigate the real-time dynamics of an initially rigid string, observing large fluctuations after quenching into the roughening regime, as well as string breaking via particle-pair creation. Our results indicate that rough strings can be realized in experimentally accessible quantum simulators, opening the door to detailed studies of how strong fluctuations influence string-breaking dynamics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_06123 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | U(1) lattice gauge theory and string roughening on a triangular Rydberg array Bombieri, Lisa Zache, Torsten V. Pichler, Hannes González-Cuadra, Daniel Quantum Physics Quantum Gases Strongly Correlated Electrons High Energy Physics - Lattice High Energy Physics - Theory Lattice gauge theories (LGTs) describe fundamental interactions in particle physics. A central phenomenon in these theories is confinement, which binds quarks and antiquarks into hadrons through the formation of string-like flux tubes of gauge fields. Simulating confinement dynamics is a challenging task, but recent advances in quantum simulation are enabling the exploration of LGTs in regimes beyond the reach of classical computation. For analog devices, a major difficulty is the realization of strong plaquette interactions, which generate string fluctuations that can drive a roughening transition. Understanding string roughening -- where strong transversal functions lead to an effective restoration of translational symmetry at long distances -- is of central importance in the study of confinement. In this work, we show that string roughening emerges naturally in an analog Rydberg quantum simulator. We first map a triangular Rydberg array onto a (2+1)D U(1) LGT where plaquette terms appear as first-order processes. We study flux strings connecting static charges and demonstrate that, near a deconfined quantum critical point, the string exhibits logarithmic growth of its transverse width as the separation between charges increases, along with the universal Lüscher correction to the confining potential -- both signatures of string roughening. Finally, we investigate the real-time dynamics of an initially rigid string, observing large fluctuations after quenching into the roughening regime, as well as string breaking via particle-pair creation. Our results indicate that rough strings can be realized in experimentally accessible quantum simulators, opening the door to detailed studies of how strong fluctuations influence string-breaking dynamics. |
| title | U(1) lattice gauge theory and string roughening on a triangular Rydberg array |
| topic | Quantum Physics Quantum Gases Strongly Correlated Electrons High Energy Physics - Lattice High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.06123 |