Spontaneous nucleation and dynamics of kink defects in zigzag arrays of trapped ions

2013/03/27 by Sara Ejtemaee, S. Ejtemaee, P. C. Haljan · 78 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #Dynamics (music) #Function (biology) #Geometry #Ion #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Materials science #Molecular dynamics #Molecular physics #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #Nucleation #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Range (aeronautics) #Thermodynamics #Zigzag #physics.atom-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.87.051401

published in Physical Review A 87(5) (American Physical Society) · 5 pages, 4 figures

arxiv created 2013/03/27 · openalex publication_date 2013/05/17 · arxiv updated 2015/06/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

The spontaneous nucleation and dynamics of topological kink defects have been studied in trapped arrays of 41--43 Yb ions. The number of kinks formed as a function of quench rate across the linear-zigzag transition is measured in the underdamped regime of the inhomogeneous Kibble-Zurek theory. The experimental results agree well with molecular dynamics simulations, which show how losses mask the intrinsic nucleation rate. Simulations indicate that doubling the ion number and optimization of laser cooling can help reduce the effect of losses. A range of kink dynamics is observed including configural change, motion and lifetime, and behavioral sensitivity to ion number.

Citations

• Phase-transition dynamics in the lab and the universe
• Observation of Magnetic Flux Generated Spontaneously During a Rapid Quench of Superconducting Films
• Nonappearance of Vortices in Fast Mechanical Expansions of Liquid4Hethrough the Lambda Transition
• Spontaneous vortices in the formation of Bose–Einstein condensates
• Topology of cosmic domains and strings

Cited by

• Experimentally testing quantum critical dynamics beyond the Kibble–Zurek mechanism