Spacetime-Localized Response in Quantum Critical Spin Systems: Insights from Holography

Abstract

According to the AdS/CFT correspondence, certain quantum many-body systems in $d$-dimensions are equivalent to gravitational theories in $(d+1)$-dimensional asymptotically AdS spacetimes. When a massless particle is sent from the AdS boundary to the bulk curved spacetime, it reaches another point of the boundary after a time lag. In the dual quantum system, it should appear as if quasiparticles have been transferred between two separated points. We theoretically demonstrate that this phenomenon, which we call "spacetime-localized response," is actually observed in the dynamics of the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model near the quantum critical point. This result suggests that, if we can realize a holographic spin system in a laboratory, the experimental probing of the emergent extra-dimension is possible by applying a designed stimulus to a quantum many-body system, which is holographically equivalent to sending a massless particle through the higher-dimensional curved bulk geometry. We also discuss possible experimental realizations using Rydberg atoms in an optical tweezers array.