Surface criticality in the mixed-field Ising model with sign-inverted next-nearest-neighbor interaction

Rydberg atoms in an optical tweezer array have been used as a quantum simulator of the spin-$1/2$ antiferromagnetic Ising model with longitudinal and transverse fields. We suggest how to implement the next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) interaction the sign of which is opposite to that of the nearest-neighbor one in the Rydberg atom systems. We show that this can be achieved by weakly coupling one Rydberg state with another Rydberg state. We further study the surface criticality associated with the first-order quantum phase transition between the antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases, which emerges due to the sign-inverted NNN interaction. From the microscopic model, we derive a Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equation, which describes static and dynamic properties of the antiferromagnetic order parameter near the transition. Using both analytical GL theory and numerical method based on a mean-field theory, we calculate the order parameter in the proximity of a boundary of the system in order to show that the healing length of the order parameter logarithmically diverges, signaling the surface criticality.