Reciprocal Floquet thermalization in one-dimensional Rydberg atom array

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Floquet engineering protocol in Rydberg atom arrays that reveals a reciprocal thermalization mechanism, enabling control over thermalization dynamics and suppression in a disorder-free, experimentally accessible setting.

Contribution

It uncovers a reciprocal Floquet thermalization mechanism and demonstrates how to control thermalization in Rydberg arrays using square-wave modulation.

Findings

Thermalization peaks when laser detuning and interactions inversely match Floquet period.

Thermalization is suppressed between these peaks.

Rapid equilibration occurs within Rydberg lifetime in a disorder-free regime.

Abstract

Periodically driven Floquet quantum systems hold great promise for engineering exotic quantum phases and matter, but are often limited by rapid thermalization. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a square-wave-modulated Floquet engineering protocol to steer and study the thermalization dynamics in one-dimensional Rydberg atom arrays. We identify a reciprocal Floquet thermalization mechanism, which is triggered when the combination of laser detuning and Rydberg atom interactions inversely matches the Floquet period. The level statistics show narrow peaks when the reciprocal condition is met, while thermalization is suppressed between two adjacent peaks. We extract signatures of thermalization and its suppression from the stroboscopic evolution of the atomic population. Critically, thermalization occurs in a disorder-free regime, with rapid equilibration achieved within the Rydberg lifetime and experimentally accessible initial states. Our study establishes a robust framework for exploring thermalization-to-localization transitions and designing effective Hamiltonians, and highlights the unique potential of the Rydberg atom array setting for quantum simulations.