Pioneered in the cosmological setting, the Kibble–Zurek mechanism (KZM) describes the universal dynamics across a phase transition, leading to the breakdown of adiabatic dynamics and the formation of topological defects. The authors present an experimental study of the universal critical dynamics of a 1D quantum Ising chain driven across the paramagnet-to-ferromagnet phase transition using a trapped-ion quantum simulator, and characterize the probability distribution of topological defects, which is found in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions.
- Jin-Ming Cui
- Fernando Javier Gómez-Ruiz
- Adolfo del Campo
