Sprecher
Beschreibung
False vacuum decay is a prominent phenomenon relevant to elementary particle physics and early-universe cosmology. Understanding its microscopic dynamics is currently a major challenge and research thrust. Recent advances in numerical techniques allow for the extraction of related signatures in tractable systems in two spatial dimensions over intermediate timescales. Here, we focus on the 2 + 1D quantum Ising model, where a longitudinal field is used to energetically separate the two $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry-broken ferromagnetic ground states, turning them into a “true” and “false” vacuum. Using tree tensor networks, we simulate the microscopic dynamics of a spin-down domain in a spin-up background after a homogeneous quench, with parameters chosen so that the domain corresponds to a bubble of the true vacuum in a false-vacuum background. We identify how the ultimate fate of the bubble—indefinite expansion or collapse—depends on its geometrical features and on the microscopic parameters of the Ising Hamiltonian. We further provide a realistic quantum-simulation scheme, aimed at probing bubble dynamics on atomic Rydberg arrays.