The Ising model serves as a canonical platform for exploring emergent symmetry in quantum critical systems. The critical point of the 1D Ising chain is described by a conformal Ising field theory, which remains integrable in the presence of a magnetic perturbation leading to massive particles associated with the exceptional Lie algebra E8. Coupling two Ising chains in a ladder leads to an even richer D8(1) symmetry. Experimental signatures of the associated particle excitations have arguably been observed in scattering studies of the spin chain material CoNb2O6.
In this contribution to the EQUALITY project, PASQAL researchers probe these emergent symmetries in a Rydberg atom quantum processing unit, leveraging its tunable geometry to realize both chain and ladder configurations. They identify mass spectra consistent with E8 and D8(1) symmetries at the respective critical points. Their results demonstrate the power of Rydberg platforms for investigating symmetry emergence in quantum many-body systems and provide a direct window into the interplay of confinement, geometry and criticality.
Read the paper: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.21299
