Rydberg Atom Interactions and Collective Behavior

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

The extremely large polarizability of Rydberg atoms leads to interactions at internuclear distances of microns that are larger than their kinetic energies at ultracold temperatures (T less than 1 milliKelvin). The long range interactions make ultracold Rydberg atoms important systems for studying dipolar quantum gases, building single photon sources and constructing quantum gates. Their sensitivity to electric fields makes Rydberg atoms useful for applications in sensing and measurement standards. The ability to generate quantum entangled material particles using Rydberg atom dipole blockade, increase light matter interaction times, and create exotic states, like macrodimers and trilobite molecules, has further motivated the study of ultracold Rydberg atoms. Key questions that we are addressing are: how can the anisotropy of the interactions be controlled, what is the role of static background electric fields, how does Rydberg atom-electron scattering in ultracold gases lead to the formation of interesting states of matter and what happens when two Rydberg atoms interact at short range? Specifically, the interaction between ultracold ground state atoms and Rydberg atom electrons is being investigated experimentally with a unique collision imaging spectrometer. Phase transitions and magnetic phenomena that are predicted to occur due to the scattering of the weakly bound Rydberg electron from the ground state atoms are being studied. These experiments complement others on Rydberg atom- Rydberg atom interactions, which quantitatively measure the anisotropy of the interactions and their influence on phase transitions that are postulated to occur in ultracold Rydberg gases. The results of these experiments are being compared to theory done by our research group. This award supports two graduate students and enables undergraduate research projects to be carried out on the apparatus.