Accurate Mapping of Multilevel Rydberg Atoms on Interacting Spin- 1 / 2 Particles for the Quantum Simulation of Ising Models

Sylvain de Léséleuc (1) , Sebastian Weber , Vincent Lienhard (1) , Daniel Barredo (1) , Hans Peter Büchler , Thierry Lahaye (1) , Antoine Browaeys (1)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry / Optique Quantique

We study a system of atoms that are laser driven to nD_3/2 Rydberg states and assess how accurately they can be mapped onto spin-1/2 particles for the quantum simulation of anisotropic Ising magnets. Using nonperturbative calculations of the pair potentials between two atoms in the presence of electric and magnetic fields, we emphasize the importance of a careful selection of experimental parameters in order to maintain the Rydberg blockade and avoid excitation of unwanted Rydberg states. We benchmark these theoretical observations against experiments using two atoms. Finally, we show that in these conditions, the experimental dynamics observed after a quench is in good agreement with numerical simulations of spin-1/2 Ising models in systems with up to 49 spins, for which numerical simulations become intractable.

Domaines: Physique Atomique [physics.atom-ph]

Sylvain de Léséleuc, Sebastian Weber, Vincent Lienhard, Daniel Barredo, Hans Peter Büchler, et al.. Accurate Mapping of Multilevel Rydberg Atoms on Interacting Spin- 1 / 2 Particles for the Quantum Simulation of Ising Models. Physical Review Letters, 2018, 120 (11), ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.113602⟩. ⟨hal-01736609⟩