Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Synchronization is a widespread phenomenon in natural and engineered systems, governing the emergence of collective dynamics in different domains including biology and classical and quantum physics. In quantum many-body systems, synchronization has emerged as a tool to probe out-of-equilibrium behaviour and internal correlations. Supersolids—quantum phases that combine crystalline order and superfluidity—offer a platform to explore synchronization in systems with coexisting broken symmetries. Here we investigate the dynamics of a dipolar supersolid subjected to external rotation. We show that, above a critical driving frequency, the crystal revolution undergoes a sudden synchronization with the rotating field seeded by the nucleation of quantized vortices, hallmark of superfluidity. This transition reflects the interplay between the solid-like and superfluid responses of the system. By comparing simulations of the extended Gross–Pitaevskii equation with experimental observations, we demonstrate that synchronization can serve as a dynamical indicator for vortex nucleation. This approach provides a complementary method to determine the critical rotation frequency for vortex formation in supersolids.
Source: Nature Physics
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $12,690
Awards: Quantum Simulation with Long-Range-Interacting Dysprosium and Erbium: from Microscopy to Rydberg Tweezers, G2405428869, Atoms, Light, and Molecules, Exploring Long-Range Interacting Fermion Lattice Systems, G4400589872, G4495373907, G4778878774, G5062013453, G5302217128, G5353809527, Magnetic atoms: from many-body physics to quantum technology, G7853507824, G8208325170, G8590477180, G9000110961, G9000117714
OpenAlex ID: W4415464647