Decoupling of static and dynamic criticality in a driven Mott insulator

The impulsively driven antiferromagnetic Mott insulator is a model quantum many-body system predicted to realize exotic transient phenomena, however its exploration in far-from equilibrium regimes remains experimentally challenging. Here, the authors use a combination of second harmonic optical polarimetry and coherent magnon spectroscopy to investigate the ultrafast non-equilibrium dynamics of the Mott insulator Sr2IrO4 and find evidence of a far-from-equilibrium critical regime where static and dynamic critical behaviour decouple and which could be present in a number of other quantum materials.