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

摘要

The spontaneous nucleation and dynamics of topological kink defects have been studied in trapped arrays ofn41–43 Yb ions. The number of kinks formed as a function of quench rate across the linear-zigzag transitionnis measured in the underdamped regime of the inhomogeneous Kibble-Zurek theory. The experimental resultsnagree well with molecular dynamics simulations, which show how losses mask the intrinsic nucleation rate.nSimulations indicate that doubling the ion number and optimization of laser cooling can help reduce the effect ofnlosses. A range of kink dynamics is observed including configural change, motion and lifetime, and behavioralnsensitivity to ion number.