Probing False Vacuum Decay and Bubble Nucleation in a Rydberg Atom Array

TL;DR

This study investigates false vacuum decay and bubble nucleation in a Rydberg atom array, revealing quantum tunneling phenomena and scaling laws consistent with quantum field theory predictions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the observation of vacuum decay rates and bubble nucleation in a Rydberg system, extending understanding beyond traditional models and exploring deviations from ideal metastable states.

Findings

Decay rate decreases exponentially with inverse symmetry-breaking field

Minor deviations cause significant departures from universal scaling

Resonant bubble nucleation observed in discrete energy spectrum system

Abstract

In quantum field theory (QFT), the "vacuum" is not just empty space but the lowest-energy state of a quantum field. If the energy landscape has multiple local minima, the local ground states are the false vacuum (FV) which can tunnel towards the global ground state (true vacuum, TV). This process exhibits signature akin to classical supercooled gas transitions and many-body tunneling in discrete quantum systems. Here, we study the FV decay and bubble nucleation in a Rydberg atom ring. The $1/r^6$ van-der-Waals interactions and individual-site addressability allow us to explore physics beyond the standard Ising model. We observe that the FV decay rate decreases exponentially with the inverse of the symmetry-breaking field, directly mirroring QFT predictions. Moreover, we demonstrate that even minor deviations from the ideal metastable state can cause a stark departure from this universal scaling law. Extending beyond short-time decay dynamics, we also examine resonant bubble nucleation, a feature distinctive to systems with discrete energy spectra. Our findings and methods open avenues for future studies of many-body tunneling in higher dimensions or more complex geometries.