Abstract
Dissipation is an unavoidable feature of quantum systems, typically associated with decoherence and the modification of quantum correlations. In the study of strongly correlated quantum matter, we often have to overcome or suppress dissipation to uncover the underlying quantum phenomena. However, here we demonstrate that dissipation can serve as a probe for intrinsic correlations in quantum many-body systems. Applying tunable dissipation in ultracold atomic systems, we observe universal dissipative dynamics in strongly correlated one-dimensional quantum gases. Specifically, we find a universal stretched-exponential decay of the total particle number, where the stretched exponent measures the anomalous dimension of the spectral function—a parameter for characterizing strong quantum fluctuations. This approach offers a versatile framework for probing features of strongly correlated systems, including spin–charge separation and Fermi arcs in quantum materials.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available in the repository https://cloud.tsinghua.edu.cn/d/f5c45e9cb7124155979f/. Any additional information is available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge discussions with H. Zhai, X.-W. Guan and T. Giamarchi and technical support from W. Zhang and Z. Zhang. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (92165203, W.C.; 92476110, J.H.; 12174358, Y.C.), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1405300, Y.C.; 2021YFA1400904, W.C.; 2021YFA0718303, J.H.; 2023YFA1406702, W.C.), NSAF (U2330401, Y.C.) and Swiss National Science Foundation (200020-188687, 200020-219400, H.Y.).
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Y.Z., Y.T. and J.Y. built the set-up, performed the experiment and analysed the data with the assistance of Z.Z., Z.C. and T.T. Y.C. and Y.W. built the theoretical model. H.Y. performed the numerical calculations and calibrated the temperature. W.C. and J.H. conceived and supervised this work. Y.Z., Y.T., J.H. and W.C. wrote the manuscript with input from all authors.
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Extended data
Extended Data Fig. 1 Dependence of Luttinger parameter on temperature.
The Luttinger parameter K versus the rescaled temperature T/Td, with Td = ℏ2n2/2mkB denoting the degenerate temperature. Different colors represent different dimensionless interaction strengths γ.
Extended Data Fig. 2 Finite-time correction.
a, The cyan line is the dissipation curve in the form of Eq. 5 with η = 0.91. The yellow line is the dissipation curve with the same η = 0.91 but at zero temperature formed in Eq. 4. Here, t* is the rescaled dissipation time t* = πkBTt/h. When we use the stretched-exponential function \(N(0)\exp \left[-{(t/{\tau }_{0}^{{\prime} })}^{{\alpha }^{* }}\right]\) to fit the cyan line, the red line gives α* = 0.69 when we set the time upper bound at t* = 4.8. Here the y axis is in a logarithmic scale and the x axis is in a linear scale. b, For different γ or η, as the t* increases, the fitted α* decreases and the dashed line represents the t* we use in our experiment.
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Zhao, Y., Tian, Y., Ye, J. et al. Universal dissipative dynamics in strongly correlated quantum gases. Nat. Phys. 21, 530–535 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02800-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02800-4
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