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Viermann C, Sparn M, Liebster N, Hans M, Kath E, Parra-López Á, Tolosa-Simeón M, Sánchez-Kuntz N, Haas T, Strobel H, Floerchinger S, Oberthaler MK. Quantum field simulator for dynamics in curved spacetime. Nature 2022; 611:260-264. [PMID: 36352135 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05313-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
In most cosmological models, rapid expansion of space marks the first moments of the Universe and leads to the amplification of quantum fluctuations1. The description of subsequent dynamics and related questions in cosmology requires an understanding of the quantum fields of the standard model and dark matter in curved spacetime. Even the reduced problem of a scalar quantum field in an explicitly time-dependent spacetime metric is a theoretical challenge2-5, and thus a quantum field simulator can lead to insights. Here we demonstrate such a quantum field simulator in a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate with a configurable trap6,7 and adjustable interaction strength to implement this model system. We explicitly show the realization of spacetimes with positive and negative spatial curvature by wave-packet propagation and observe particle-pair production in controlled power-law expansion of space, using Sakharov oscillations to extract amplitude and phase information of the produced state. We find quantitative agreement with analytical predictions for different curvatures in time and space. This benchmarks and thereby establishes a quantum field simulator of a new class. In the future, straightforward upgrades offer the possibility to enter unexplored regimes that give further insight into relativistic quantum field dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Celia Viermann
- Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Marius Sparn
- Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Nikolas Liebster
- Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Maurus Hans
- Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Elinor Kath
- Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Álvaro Parra-López
- Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.,Departamento de Física Teórica and IPARCOS, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mireia Tolosa-Simeón
- Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.,Institut für Theoretische Physik III, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | | | - Tobias Haas
- Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Quantum Information and Communication, École polytechnique de Bruxelles, CP 165/59, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Helmut Strobel
- Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefan Floerchinger
- Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.,Theoretisch-Physikalisches Institut, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
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