Detailed balance of thermalization dynamics in a Rydberg quantum simulator

By utilizing a $^{87}$Rb single-atom array synthesizer using dynamic phase holograms, various size ($N<25$) of defect-free zigzag chain was prepared. The chain was resonantly driven to 67S Rydberg state via two-photon transition. We fixed the interatom distance $d=4.0(2)~\mu$m and changed the zigzag angle $\theta$ from $45^{\circ}$ to $180^{\circ}$ so that strong blockade effect only influences to the (next) nearest neighbor sites. In the experiment, we observed global sudden quench dynamics of classical observables, excitation density and density-density correlation. Those observables show saturation that obeys a master equation experimentally constructed from themselves and imposing the principle of the detailed balance (will be discussed). Our experiment demonstrates the detailed balance in a thermalization dynamics that does not require coupling to baths or postulated randomness.