  By applying complementary analytic and numerical methods, we investigate the
dynamics of spin-$1/2$ XXZ models with variable-range interactions in arbitrary
dimensions. The dynamics we consider is initiated from uncorrelated states that
are easily prepared in experiments, and can be equivalently viewed as either
Ramsey spectroscopy or a quantum quench. Our primary focus is the dynamical
emergence of correlations and entanglement in these far-from-equilibrium
interacting quantum systems: we characterize these correlations by the
entanglement entropy, concurrence, and squeezing, which are inequivalent
measures of entanglement corresponding to different quantum resources. In one
spatial dimension, we show that the time evolution of correlation functions
manifests a non-perturbative dynamic singularity. This singularity is
characterized by a universal power-law exponent that is insensitive to small
perturbations. Explicit realizations of these models in current experiments
using polar molecules, trapped ions, Rydberg atoms, magnetic atoms, and
alkaline-earth and alkali atoms in optical lattices, along with the relative
merits and limitations of these different systems, are discussed.
