Marcello DALMONTE
Recent atomic physics experiments and numerical works have reported complementary signatures of the emergence of a topological quantum spin liquid in models with blockade interactions. However, the specific mechanism stabilizing such a phase remains unclear. In this talk, I will introduce an exact relation between an Ising-Higgs lattice gauge theory on the kagome lattice and blockaded models on Ruby lattices. This relation elucidates the origin of previously observed topological spin liquids by directly linking the latter to a deconfined phase of a solvable gauge theory.
I will then discuss how such analogy paves the ground to a whole new class of 'constrained XY models', that have never been investigated so far, and could constitute a rich playground for quantum spin liquid phases. I will present a first step in this direction: the investigation a subset of phase diagrams utilizing numerical methods. The latter shows how deconfined phases extend in a broad region of the parameter space; these states are characterized by a large ground state overlap with resonating valence bond wavefunctions. Finally, I will highlight the experimental relevance of these blockaded XY models in the context of Rydberg-dressed atoms, that offer novel and controllable platforms for the engineering and characterisation of spin liquid states.