A Cold-Atom Particle Collider

A Cold-Atom Particle Collider

January 12, 2024 | Guo-Xian Su, Jesse Osborne, Jad C. Halimeh
The paper proposes a particle-collision experiment in a cold-atom quantum simulator for a 1 + 1D U(1) lattice gauge theory with a tunable topological $\theta$-term. The authors demonstrate an experimentally feasible protocol to impart momenta to elementary (anti)particles and their meson composites. Numerical simulations show that collisions of moving wave packets for both elementary and composite particles can lead to rich phenomena, such as oscillatory string dynamics in the wake of elementary (anti)particle collisions due to confinement. The study also explores string inversion and entropy production processes across Coleman’s phase transition through far-from-equilibrium quenches. Additionally, the collisions of composite particles reveal their internal structure. This work paves the way for the experimental investigation of collision dynamics in state-of-the-art quantum simulators of gauge theories, providing a microscopic understanding of collider-relevant physics.The paper proposes a particle-collision experiment in a cold-atom quantum simulator for a 1 + 1D U(1) lattice gauge theory with a tunable topological $\theta$-term. The authors demonstrate an experimentally feasible protocol to impart momenta to elementary (anti)particles and their meson composites. Numerical simulations show that collisions of moving wave packets for both elementary and composite particles can lead to rich phenomena, such as oscillatory string dynamics in the wake of elementary (anti)particle collisions due to confinement. The study also explores string inversion and entropy production processes across Coleman’s phase transition through far-from-equilibrium quenches. Additionally, the collisions of composite particles reveal their internal structure. This work paves the way for the experimental investigation of collision dynamics in state-of-the-art quantum simulators of gauge theories, providing a microscopic understanding of collider-relevant physics.
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Understanding A Cold-Atom Particle Collider