Huanqian Loh is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Physics at Duke University. Prior to her Duke appointment, she was a President’s Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore. She received her PhD from the University of Colorado in 2013 and subsequently took up postdoctoral fellowships in Singapore and at MIT. Her current research focuses on using reconfigurable neutral atom arrays for quantum computation and quantum simulation. Huanqian’s recent achievements are recognized by the Sloan Research Fellowship (2025), L’Oreal Fellowship (2020, 2018), and World Economic Forum Young Scientist Award (2019).
Presentation Title:
Non-Equilibrium Dynamics in a Rydberg Quantum Simulator
Presentation Abstract:
Neutral atom arrays are a promising platform for quantum information processing and quantum simulation. By driving atoms to highly excited Rydberg states, strong, long-range interactions can be engineered between the atoms. In this talk, I will present recent results obtained with Rydberg-array quantum simulators realized in our laboratory, focusing on non-equilibrium dynamics in fragmented Hilbert spaces containing exponentially many disconnected sectors. The experimentally observed dynamics include generalized quantum many-body scars, restricted forms of thermalization, and statistical localization in a constrained U(1) lattice gauge theory. Our work establishes a versatile framework for exploring emergent phenomena across both low- and high-energy regimes in strongly interacting quantum many-body systems.