Observation of the Kibble-Zurek scaling law for defect formation in ion crystals

S. Ulm; J. Roßnagel; G. Jacob; C. Degünther; S. T. Dawkins; U. G. Poschinger; R. Nigmatullin; A. Retzker; M. B. Plenio; F. Schmidt-Kaler; K. Singer

doi:10.1038/ncomms3290

Observation of the Kibble-Zurek scaling law for defect formation in ion crystals

S. Ulm^*, J. Roßnagel, G. Jacob, C. Degünther, S. T. Dawkins, U. G. Poschinger, R. Nigmatullin, A. Retzker, M. B. Plenio, F. Schmidt-Kaler, K. Singer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Racah Institute of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

215 Scopus citations

Abstract

Traversal of a symmetry-breaking phase transition at finite rates can lead to causally separated regions with incompatible symmetries and the formation of defects at their boundaries, which has a crucial role in quantum and statistical mechanics, cosmology and condensed matter physics. This mechanism is conjectured to follow universal scaling laws prescribed by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. Here we determine the scaling law for defect formation in a crystal of 16 laser-cooled trapped ions, which are conducive to the precise control of structural phases and the detection of defects. The experiment reveals an exponential scaling of defect formation γ^β, where γ is the rate of traversal of the critical point and β=2.68±0.06. This supports the prediction of β=8/3≈2.67 for finite inhomogeneous systems. Our result demonstrates that the scaling laws also apply in the mesoscopic regime and emphasizes the potential for further tests of non-equilibrium thermodynamics with ion crystals.

Original language	English
Article number	2290
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3290
State	Published - 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge helpful discussions with John Goold. The Mainz team acknowledges support by the Volkswagen-Stiftung, the DFG-Forschergruppe (FOR 1493) and the EU-project DIAMANT (FP7-ICT). M.B.P. acknowledges support provided by the EU STREP Project PICC (FP7-ICT), the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship and the GIF project ‘Non-linear dynamics in ultra-cold trapped ion crystals’. A.R. acknowledges the carrier integration grant (CIG) no. 321798. R.N. was supported by the EPSRC Doctoral Training Center for Controlled Quantum Dynamics.

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abstract = "Traversal of a symmetry-breaking phase transition at finite rates can lead to causally separated regions with incompatible symmetries and the formation of defects at their boundaries, which has a crucial role in quantum and statistical mechanics, cosmology and condensed matter physics. This mechanism is conjectured to follow universal scaling laws prescribed by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. Here we determine the scaling law for defect formation in a crystal of 16 laser-cooled trapped ions, which are conducive to the precise control of structural phases and the detection of defects. The experiment reveals an exponential scaling of defect formation γβ, where γ is the rate of traversal of the critical point and β=2.68±0.06. This supports the prediction of β=8/3≈2.67 for finite inhomogeneous systems. Our result demonstrates that the scaling laws also apply in the mesoscopic regime and emphasizes the potential for further tests of non-equilibrium thermodynamics with ion crystals.",

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AU - Dawkins, S. T.

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AU - Schmidt-Kaler, F.

AU - Singer, K.

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Observation of the Kibble-Zurek scaling law for defect formation in ion crystals

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