Submission Date

7-31-2026

Document Type

Paper

Department

Physics & Astronomy

Faculty Mentor

Thomas Carroll

Student Contributor

Ryan Friesen

Comments

Presented during the 28th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 24, 2026 at Ursinus College.

This research was done in collaboration with Michael W. Noel and Sarah E. Speilman of the Physics Department at Bryn Mawr College.

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 2427091.

Project Description

Isolated quantum systems are anticipated to obey the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis by coming to thermal equilibrium. In our experiments, ultracold Rydberg atoms thermalize when they exchange energy via two-body interactions, but not three-body interactions. We believe this to be the result of a specially tuned initial state that maps onto quantum many body scar states. We propose an experiment in which we modify the initial state and measure the degree to which the system thermalizes. We present experimental and simulation data to support this.

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