Speaker
Description
The Kibble--Zurek (KZ) mechanism has been extensively studied in various second-order phase transitions, yet the case of tricriticality---the point where second-order phase transition lines terminate---remains experimentally elusive. Here, we theoretically propose probing KZ scaling at tricritical points using Rydberg atom arrays arranged as two- and three-leg ladders, which realize the tricritical Ising and tricritical Potts universality classes. By slowly ramping the Rabi frequency and detuning, we extract two relevant tricritical exponents, $\nu$ and $\nu'$, both via conventional paths from the disordered to the ordered phase and via ``tangential'' paths confined entirely within the disordered phase. At faster speeds, ramping dynamics go beyond the standard KZ paradigm: data collapse analysis using the parent critical exponents (rather than the tricritical ones) reveals renormalization group flows toward the adjacent second-order critical line, and we identify it as a dynamical analog of Zamolodchikov's $c$-theorem. Our protocol is readily implementable on existing Rydberg quantum simulators. This provides a direct route to measuring distinct tricritical exponents which can reveal an emergent spacetime supersymmetry constraint $1/\nu - 1/\nu' = 1$. Moreover, this work deepens our theoretical understanding and opens new avenues for exploring beyond-KZ quantum dynamics with rich renormalization group structure.
| Session Selection | Condensed Matter |
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