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Abstract

Recent developments have highlighted the potential of quantum spin models to
realize the phenomenology of confinement leading to the formation of bound
states such as mesons. In this work we show that Ising chains also provide a
platform to realize and probe particle collisions in pristine form with the key
advantage that one can not only monitor the asymptotic particle production, but
also the whole spatiotemporal dynamics of the collision event. We study both
elastic and inelastic collisions between different kinds of mesons and also
more complex bound states of mesons, which one can interpret as an analog of
exotic particles such as the tetraquark in quantum chromodynamics. We argue
that our results not only apply to the specific studied spin model, but can be
readily extended to lattice gauge theories in a more general context. As the
considered Ising chains admit a natural realization in various quantum
simulator platforms, it is a key implication of this work that particle
collisions therefore become amenable within current experimental scope.
Concretely, we discuss a potentially feasible implementation in systems of
Rydberg atoms.