Meson Spectroscopy of Exotic Symmetries of Ising Criticality in Rydberg Atom Arrays
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The Ising model serves as a canonical platform for exploring emergent symmetry in quantum critical systems. The critical point of the 1D Ising chain is described by a conformal Ising field theory, which remains integrable in the presence of a magnetic perturbation, leading to massive particles associated with the exceptional Lie algebra E 8 . Weakly coupling two Ising chains into a ladder breaks this integrability and is predicted to bind the elementary kink excitations of the decoupled chains, giving rise to a richer spectrum of excitations described by the D 8 ( 1 ) theory. Experimental signatures of E 8 excitations have arguably been observed in scattering studies of the spin chain material CoNb 2 O 6 , but direct observation of the bound-state spectrum emerging from interchain coupling has remained elusive. Here, we probe these emergent symmetries in a Rydberg atom quantum processing unit, leveraging its tunable geometry to realize both chain and ladder configurations. We identify mass spectra consistent with E 8 at the single-chain critical point and, in the weakly coupled ladder, report the first signatures of the reorganization of Ising excitations into the bound-state spectrum predicted by D 8 ( 1 ) symmetry. Our results demonstrate the power of Rydberg platforms for investigating symmetry emergence in quantum many-body systems and provide a direct window into the interplay of quasiparticle interactions, geometry, and criticality.
Source: PRX Quantum
DOI: 10.1103/w3zn-7xht
Language: English
Topic: Quantum many-body systems
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
OpenAlex ID: W7211954640