Exploring out-of-equilibrium quantum simulation in a many-atom strontium cavity QED platform

Nonequilibrium quantum systems exhibit phenomena not seen in equilibrium but are also less well understood. To study these systems, quantum simulators hold much promise due to their broad tunability and access to measurement observables. In this defense, I present experiments engineering nonequilibrium quantum phases of matter using many strontium atoms in a high-finesse optical cavity. Observations include a first experimental realization of three dynamical phases in quenched BCS superconductors and insights into many-body gap protection in fermionic superfluids. These results set the stage for studying more complex superconductors and further utilizing multilevel systems for quantum simulation.