Interactions Between Rydberg-Dressed Atoms

J. E. Johnson; S. L. Rolston

doi:10.1103/physreva.82.033412

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arXiv · 1006.3212

Interactions Between Rydberg-Dressed Atoms

J. E. Johnson·S. L. Rolston

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Abstract

We examine interactions between atoms continuously and coherently driven between the ground state and a Rydberg state, producing "Rydberg-dressed atoms." Because of the large dipolar coupling between two Rydberg atoms, a small admixture of Rydberg character into a ground state can produce an atom with a dipole moment of a few Debye, the appropriate size to observe interesting dipolar physics effects in cold atom systems. We have calculated the interaction energies for atoms that interact via the dipole-dipole interaction and find that due to blockade effects, the R-dependent two-atom interaction terms are limited in size, and can be R-independent up until the dipolar energy is equal to the detuning. This produces R-dependent interactions different from the expected 1/R^3 dipolar form, which have no direct analogy in condensed matter physics, and could lead to new quantum phases in trapped Rydberg systems.

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J. E. Johnson, S. L. Rolston. 2010-08-20. Interactions Between Rydberg-Dressed Atoms. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.82.033412

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