Verification of a Many-Ion Simulator of the Dicke Model Through Slow Quenches across a Phase Transition

We use a self-assembled two-dimensional Coulomb crystal of \ensuremath{\sim}70ions in the presence of an external transverse field to engineer a simulator of the Dicke Hamiltonian, an iconic model in quantum optics which features a quantum phase transition between a superradiant (ferromagnetic) and a normal (paramagnetic) phase. We experimentally implement slow quenches across the quantum critical point and benchmark the dynamics and the...