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Kinetically Constrained Cavity QED: From Blockaded Ferromagnetism to Long-Range Quantum Scars

Hossein Hosseinabadi1,*, Riccardo J. Valencia-Tortora1, Aleksandr N. Mikheev1,2, Darrick E. Chang3,4, Johannes Zeiher5,6,7, Roderich Moessner8, and Jamir Marino1,9

  • *Contact author: hossein@pks.mpg.de
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PRX Quantum 7, 020357 – Published 11 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/586v-sxqr

Abstract

Rydberg–cavity systems are emerging as promising platforms for quantum simulation and quantum information processing. These hybrid architectures combine two complementary interaction mechanisms: cavity photons mediate collective long-range couplings, while Rydberg excitations generate strong short-range interactions. Together, they offer a setting for engineering many-body phases characterized by a hierarchy of interactions across widely different length scales. In this work, we introduce a minimal and scalable model for such systems. Focusing on the strong Rydberg blockade regime, we restrict the Hilbert space to the subspace enforced by the blockade, yielding a kinetically constrained long-range model in one spatial dimension. This approach both captures the physics of Rydberg–cavity experiments in the regime of strong Rydberg interactions and provides a conceptually transparent framework for studying the interplay of long-range and short-range interactions. At equilibrium, in addition to paramagnetic and Néel-ordered phases, the system supports a blockaded ferromagnetic/superradiant phase, distinct from the conventional superradiant phase. Out of equilibrium, we identify long-range quantum many-body scars, which are atypical nonthermal eigenstates that evade the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, and giving rise to slow entanglement growth. In contrast to the linear-in-time entanglement growth characteristic of short-range scarred models, these long-range scars exhibit logarithmic entanglement dynamics. Our results establish a minimal yet versatile framework for Rydberg–cavity systems, and provide a stepping stone for future theoretical and experimental studies of this frontier platform in quantum many-body physics.

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Popular Summary

Imagine a chain of atoms trapped between two mirrors, where light bouncing back and forth connects every atom to all the others. Each atom also interacts directly with its neighbors through strong Rydberg forces, which are so strong that two adjacent atoms cannot be excited at the same time, a restriction known as the Rydberg blockade. This interplay between global light-mediated coupling and local constraints creates an unconventional playground for exploring collective quantum behavior.

Our work introduces a minimal model that captures the essential physics of these hybrid cavity–Rydberg systems. At equilibrium, the model supports multiple phases, including a blockaded superradiant state where atoms collectively emit light while still obeying the blockade constraint. Out of equilibrium, it reveals a far richer picture, where the system hosts quantum many-body scars, which are rare, nonthermal states that preserve memory of the initial conditions. These scarred dynamics exhibit unusually slow, logarithmic growth of entanglement, a hallmark of long-range correlations carried by cavity photons.

Our work is a roadmap for experiments in the next few years on hybrid cavity–Rydberg systems, in order to probe nonergodic dynamics and long-lived quantum coherence in many-body settings.

Article Text

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PRX Quantum 7, 020357– Published 11 June, 2026
  • Received 29 October 2025
  • Revised 9 January 2026
  • Accepted 4 May 2026
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