Abstract:

The key to explaining and controlling a range of quantum phenomena is to study how information propagates around many-body systems. Quantum dynamics can be described by particle-like carriers of information that emerge in the collective behaviour of the underlying system, the so-called quasiparticles1. These elementary excitations are predicted to distribute quantum information in a fashion determined by the system’s interactions2. Here we report quasiparticle dynamics observed in a quantum many-body system of trapped atomic ions3,4.First,we observe the entanglement distributed by quasiparticles as they trace out light-cone-like wavefronts5–11. Second, using the ability to tune the interaction range in our system, we observe information propagation in an experimental regime where the effective-lightcone picture does not apply7,12. Our results will enable experimental studies of a range of quantum phenomena, including transport13,14, thermalization15, localization16 and entanglement growth17, and represent a first step towards a newquantum-optic regime of engineered quasiparticles with tunable nonlinear interactions.

Short Bio: