Real Time Dynamics and Confinement in the $\mathbb{Z}_{n}$ Schwinger-Weyl lattice model for 1+1 QED

TL;DR

This paper investigates the out-of-equilibrium behavior of a 1+1 dimensional lattice QED model with a $ ext{Z}_n$ gauge group, focusing on vacuum stability, pair production, and string breaking, revealing significant confinement effects.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the real-time dynamics and confinement phenomena in a discretized 1+1 QED model with a $ ext{Z}_n$ gauge symmetry, including effects on pair production and string breaking.

Findings

Confinement suppresses spontaneous pair production.

Confinement inhibits string breaking into quark-antiquark pairs.

The system exhibits distinct out-of-equilibrium features due to confinement.

Abstract

We study the out-of-equilibrium properties of $1+1$ dimensional quantum electrodynamics (QED), discretized via the staggered-fermion Schwinger model with an Abelian $\mathbb{Z}_{n}$ gauge group. We look at two relevant phenomena: first, we analyze the stability of the Dirac vacuum with respect to particle/antiparticle pair production, both spontaneous and induced by an external electric field; then, we examine the string breaking mechanism. We observe a strong effect of confinement, which acts by suppressing both spontaneous pair production and string breaking into quark/antiquark pairs, indicating that the system dynamics displays a number of out-of-equilibrium features.