Chiral Floquet Selection of an Algebraic Rydberg Bound State in the Continuum

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) remain localized despite the presence of extended modes at the same energy. In driven systems with long-range couplings, the absence of radiation does not by itself determine how a bound state decays in space. We study a Hermitian Rydberg spin waveguide coupled to a four-site plaquette, where a winding drive phase combines rotation with time translation to forbid propagating guide channels in one symmetry sector. The resulting eigenstate remains embedded in the continuum of other sectors and carries an inverse-cube waveguide amplitude, with coherent contributions from direct plaquette–guide coupling and long-range guide propagation. Pair-state calculations determine the microscopic couplings in the axial geometry, while coherent Floquet mixing sets the weight of the dominant circulating plaquette mode. The bound state thus retains the spatial signature of the long-range coupling even when radiation is forbidden.