Quantum link models (QLMs) offer the realistic prospect for the practical implementation of lattice quantum electrodynamics (QED) on modern quantum simulators, and they provide a venue for exploring various nonergodic phenomena relevant to quantum many-body physics. In these models, gauge and electric fields are represented by spin-
S
operators. So far, large-scale realizations of QLMs have been restricted to
S
= 1/2 representations, whereas the lattice-QED limit is approached at
S
→
∞
. Here, we present a bosonic mapping for the representation of gauge and electric fields with effective spin-
S
operators for arbitrarily large values of
S
. Based on this mapping, we then propose an experimental scheme for the realization of a large-scale spin-1 U(1) QLM using spinless bosons in an optical superlattice. Using perturbation theory and infinite matrix product state calculations, which work directly in the thermodynamic limit, we demonstrate the faithfulness of the mapping and stability of gauge invariance throughout all accessible evolution times. We further demonstrate the potential of our proposed quantum simulator to address relevant high-energy physics by probing the (de)confinement of an electron–positron pair by tuning the gauge coupling. Our work provides an essential step towards gauge-theory quantum simulators in the quantum-field-theory limit.
Ultra-cold atom setups are a highly promising avenue for the quantum simulation of lattice gauge theory models. The authors propose a scalable mapping for representing higher-dimensional gauge fields in the U(1) quantum link model, and provide an experimental proposal for simulating spin-1 gauge links, with numerical benchmarks.
- Spin-S U(1) quantum link models with dynamical matter on a quantum simulator
- Jesse J. Osborne - The University of QueenslandBing Yang - Southern University of Science and TechnologyIan P. McCulloch - The University of QueenslandPhilipp Hauke - University of TrentoJad C. Halimeh - Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
- Nature Publishing Group UK; BERLIN
- 9
- National Key R&D Program of China: 2022YFA1405800 NNSFC: 12274199 Stable Support Plan Program of Shenzhen Natural Science Fund: 20220815092422002 European Union: 101017733 QuantERA grant DYNAMITE Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation): EXC-2111 - 390814868 European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programm: 948141 Provincia Autonoma di Trento: Q@TN CNR-National Research Council European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union: 804305 European Union under Horizon Europe Programme: 101080086 - NeQST Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project: DP190101515, DP200103760
B.Y. acknowledges support from National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No 2022YFA1405800), NNSFC (Grant No 12274199) and the Stable Support Plan Program of Shenzhen Natural Science Fund (Grant No 20220815092422002). J.C.H. acknowledges funding within the QuantERA II Programme that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grand Agreement No 101017733, support by the QuantERA grant DYNAMITE, by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under project number 499183856, funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy - EXC-2111 - 390814868, and funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programm (Grant Agreement no 948141) - ERC Starting Grant SimUcQuam. P.H. acknowledges funding from Provincia Autonoma di Trento, and by Q@TN, the joint lab between University of Trento, FBK-Fondazione Bruno Kessler, INFN-National Institute for Nuclear Physics, and CNR-National Research Council. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 804305). Funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe Programme - Grant Agreement 101080086 - NeQST. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. I.P.M. acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project Grants No. DP190101515 and DP200103760. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
- Journal article
- 02/09/2026
- Communications physics, Vol.9(1), p.285
- English