EQUS seminar series: Ramil Nigmatullin

Speaker: Ramil Nigmatullin

Title: Investigating non-equilibrium phase transition with quantum cellular automata

Abstract: Probabilistic cellular automata provides a classic framework for studying non-equilibrium statistical physics on a lattices.  A notable example is the Domany–Kinzel cellular automaton, which has been used to investigate the process of directed percolation and the critical dynamics of the non-equilibrium phase transitions between absorbing and percolating phases.  In this talk, we construct a non-unitary quantum cellular automaton that generalises the Domany–Kinzel cellular automaton into the quantum domain and study the resulting dynamical evolution using numerical simulations using the tensor network iTEBD algorithm.  We demonstrate that the system undergoes the absorbing–percolating phase transition and that the addition of the Hamiltonian generates coherences, which are a distinct feature of the quantum dynamics.  A proposal for the implementation of the model with Rydberg array is put forward, which does not require local addressing of individual sites.

Bio: Dr Nigmatullin is an EQUS Research Fellow at Macquarie University.  He earned his PhD in controlled quantum dynamics in Imperial College London in 2013.  Dr Nigmatullin's research focuses on statistical physics and many-body dynamics of ultracold atomic systems with applications to quantum computing, simulations and sensing.  In January 2020, he joined Macquarie University, where his research focuses on theory of quantum cellular automata.

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Major funding support

Australian Research Council

The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.