Metastable confinement in Rydberg lattice gauge theories

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates metastable confinement and resonant string breaking in a U(1) lattice gauge theory using Rydberg atom arrays, revealing new dynamical phenomena driven by long-range interactions and periodic driving.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for metastable confinement and resonant string breaking in Rydberg-based gauge theories, combining static and Floquet-driven systems.

Findings

Resonant string breaking via energy matching.

Observation of metastable confinement dynamics.

Tunable resonances through Floquet modulation.

Abstract

Confinement and string breaking are two fundamental phenomena in gauge theories. Signatures of both are currently pursued in quantum-simulator experiments, opening a new angle on strongly interacting dynamics of gauge fields out of equilibrium, complementary to traditional particle-physics settings. In this work, we report the emergence of metastable confinement dynamics in a U(1) lattice gauge theory, originating from the competition between string tension and four-Fermi coupling - a competition that naturally arises in Rydberg atom arrays. We show that the initial string state can be resonantly melted through controlled energy matching, a phenomenon we identify as resonant string breaking. We demonstrate this mechanism for both static and Floquet-driven systems, where periodic modulation generates a spectrum of tunable sideband resonances. Our work provides new insights into the mechanisms of confinement and string breaking driven by long-range interactions and time-dependent fields, which are available in current quantum simulators on a variety of platforms.