Experimental realization of a Rydberg optical Feshbach resonance in a quantum many-body system

Abstract

Feshbach resonances in ultra-cold atomic gases have led to some of the most important advances in atomic physics. They did not only enable ground breaking work in the BEC-BCS crossover regime [1], but are also widely used for the association of ultra-cold molecules [2], leading to the formation of molecular Bose-Einstein condensates [3,4] and ultra-cold dipolar molecular systems [5]. Here, we demonstrate the experimental realization of an optical Feshbach resonance using ultra-long range Rydberg molecules [6]. We show their practical use by tuning the revival time of a quantum many-body system quenched into a deep optical lattice. Our results open up many applications for Rydberg optical Feshbach resonances as ultra-long range Rydberg molecules have a plenitude of available resonances for nearly all atomic species. Among the most intriguing prospects is the engineering of genuine three- and four-body interactions via coupling to trimer and tetramer molecular states [7].