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Quantum Simulation of Out-of-Equilibrium Dynamics of Gauge Theories

This PhD project focuses on harnessing quantum simulators to explore lattice gauge theories, which are discrete counterparts of the gauge field theories underpinning the Standard Model. The research will design and analyse protocols that realise these models on Rydberg arrays or trapped-ion chains, and develop advanced numerical tools including tensor networks and exact diagonalisation to predict their real-time behaviour. Building on previous work on false-vacuum decay, the project will investigate metastability and bubble nucleation dynamics, examining how Gauss-law constraints and confining strings reshape the decay of false vacua. The research will also search for new forms of ergodicity breaking, extending the concept of quantum scars to settings with local gauge symmetries and exploring their impact on vacuum decay. Key questions include whether gauge constraints can stabilise scarred subspaces or fragment the Hilbert space in higher dimensions, and how scar-induced revivals interact with bubble formation and string breaking. By combining analytics, state-of-the-art simulations, and close interaction with experimental groups, this project will chart new territory where confinement, metastability and non-thermal dynamics meet.