Interplay of Confinement and Localization in a Programmable Rydberg Atom Chain

Interplay of Confinement and Localization in a Programmable Rydberg Atom Chain | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Interplay of Confinement and Localization in a Programmable Rydberg Atom Chain Andrea Basilio Rava, Jhon Alejandro Montanez-Barrera, Kristel Michielsen, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8418255/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Analog quantum simulators promise access to complex many-body dynamics, yet their performance is ultimately set by how device imperfections compete with intrinsic physical mechanisms. Here we present an end-to-end study of correlation spreading in a programmable Rydberg-atom chain realizing a longitudinal-field transverse-field Ising model, focusing on the joint impact of confinement and effective disorder. Experiments performed on QuEra's \emph{Aquila} quantum processor are benchmarked against large-scale coherent emulations using the J"ulich Quantum Annealing Simulator (JUQAS), enabling the controlled inclusion of realistic hardware imperfections. In the ideal coherent limit, a tunable longitudinal field induces confinement of domain-wall excitations into mesonic bound states, leading to a progressive truncation of the correlation light cone. When experimentally relevant inhomogeneities and fluctuations are included, correlations instead saturate at finite distance even in the nominally deconfined regime, revealing localization driven by emergent disorder. The close quantitative agreement between noisy emulations and experimental data allows us to attribute the observed saturation to specific hardware error channels and to identify the dominant contribution. Our results establish a practical framework for diagnosing and modeling error-induced localization in Rydberg quantum processors, while demonstrating that confinement remains a robust and programmable mechanism for engineering non-ergodic dynamics on near-term quantum hardware. Physical sciences/Materials science Physical sciences/Physics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 27 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 27 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 22 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 07 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 31 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 31 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 21 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8418255","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":620114675,"identity":"530f0df1-471c-4f4e-808a-515a4b1694d4","order_by":0,"name":"Andrea Basilio Rava","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andrea","middleName":"Basilio","lastName":"Rava","suffix":""},{"id":620114676,"identity":"2cb15051-aa96-4e48-a1de-30d6088eba15","order_by":1,"name":"Jhon Alejandro Montanez-Barrera","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jhon","middleName":"Alejandro","lastName":"Montanez-Barrera","suffix":""},{"id":620114677,"identity":"c12c6efa-1024-48c5-a3ec-2bcc95c80ea0","order_by":2,"name":"Kristel Michielsen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Forschungszentrum Jülich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kristel","middleName":"","lastName":"Michielsen","suffix":""},{"id":620114678,"identity":"20a782cd-4f10-43b5-be35-dea19b6f0367","order_by":3,"name":"Jaka Vodeb","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA00lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgY2KC3BfOCABJDFRoIWtgTitMCUALXwGBDnMOb2Y4kfGNtsZPulez4esPjDYM9H0GE9aYclGNvSjGfOObvhgGQbQ2IbQS0N6Q0SDGcOJ264kQvU0sCQQNj7/c+bf4C07L+R8+CABNBhhLXMSDsmwVABtEUih+GABBsDI2GHzXiWZpFQkWY8484xA6BfJAj7xbA/zfjGBwNgiM1ufvxZ4o+NvXwDIS0gBQlQDrMEgwQhOxgY5FFc+YGwhlEwCkbBKBiBAAAJ90GZxvlcaAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Jožef Stefan Institute","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jaka","middleName":"","lastName":"Vodeb","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-21 15:38:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8418255/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8418255/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106959821,"identity":"0d2c1e08-83b7-4987-afb7-df7868bb9fac","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-15 09:15:49","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":846794,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"InterplayofConfinementandLocalizationinaProgrammableRydbergAtomChain1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8418255/v1_covered_d2f1858e-9292-438f-9470-dbe94b34ff75.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Interplay of Confinement and Localization in a Programmable Rydberg Atom Chain","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"npj-quantum-information","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"npjqi","sideBox":"Learn more about [npj Quantum Information](http://www.nature.com/npjqi/)","snPcode":"41534","submissionUrl":"https://mts-npjqi.nature.com/","title":"npj Quantum Information","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"NPJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8418255/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8418255/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Analog quantum simulators promise access to complex many-body dynamics, yet their performance is ultimately set by how device imperfections compete with intrinsic physical mechanisms. Here we present an end-to-end study of correlation spreading in a programmable Rydberg-atom chain realizing a longitudinal-field transverse-field Ising model, focusing on the joint impact of confinement and effective disorder. Experiments performed on QuEra's \\emph{Aquila} quantum processor are benchmarked against large-scale coherent emulations using the J\\\"ulich Quantum Annealing Simulator (JUQAS), enabling the controlled inclusion of realistic hardware imperfections. In the ideal coherent limit, a tunable longitudinal field induces confinement of domain-wall excitations into mesonic bound states, leading to a progressive truncation of the correlation light cone. When experimentally relevant inhomogeneities and fluctuations are included, correlations instead saturate at finite distance even in the nominally deconfined regime, revealing localization driven by emergent disorder. The close quantitative agreement between noisy emulations and experimental data allows us to attribute the observed saturation to specific hardware error channels and to identify the dominant contribution. 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