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Probing confinement through dynamical quantum phase transitions: From quantum spin models to lattice gauge theories

Jesse J. Osborne1,*, Ian P. McCulloch2,3,1,†, and Jad C. Halimeh4,5,6,‡

  • *Contact author: j.osborne@student.uq.edu.au
  • †Contact author: ian@phys.nthu.edu.tw
  • ‡Contact author: jad.halimeh@physik.lmu.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043076 – Published 17 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rnv5-f32k

Abstract

Confinement is an intriguing phenomenon prevalent in condensed matter and high-energy physics. Exploring its effect on the far-from-equilibrium criticality of quantum many-body systems is of great interest from both a fundamental and a technological point of view. Here, we employ large-scale uniform matrix product state calculations to show that a qualitative change in the type of dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) accompanies the confinement-deconfinement transition in three paradigmatic models: the power-law interacting quantum Ising chain, the two-dimensional quantum Ising model, and the spin-S U(1) quantum link model. By tuning a confining parameter in these models, it is found that branch (manifold) DQPTs arise as a signature of (de)confinement. Whereas manifold DQPTs are associated with a sign change of the order parameter, their branch counterparts are not, but rather occur even when the order parameter exhibits considerably constrained dynamics. Our conclusions can be tested in modern quantum-simulation platforms, such as ion-trap setups and cold-atom experiments of gauge theories.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043076– Published 17 October, 2025
  • Received 28 January 2024
  • Accepted 24 July 2025
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