Strongly correlated growth of Rydberg aggregates in a vapor cell

Urvoy, A.; Ripka, F.; Lesanovsky, Igor; Booth, D.; Shaffer, J.P.; Pfau, T.; L�w, R.

Abstract

The observation of strongly interacting many-body phenomena in atomic gases typically requires ultracold samples. Here we show that the strong interaction potentials between Rydberg atoms enable the observation of many-body effects in an atomic vapor, even at room temperature. We excite Rydberg atoms in cesium vapor and observe in real-time an out-of-equilibrium excitation dynamics that is consistent with an aggregation mechanism. The experimental observations show qualitative and quantitative agreement with a microscopic theoretical model. Numerical simulations reveal that the strongly correlated growth of the emerging aggregates is reminiscent of soft-matter type systems.

Citation

Urvoy, A., Ripka, F., Lesanovsky, I., Booth, D., Shaffer, J., Pfau, T., & Löw, R. (2015). Strongly correlated growth of Rydberg aggregates in a vapor cell. Physical Review Letters, 114, Article 203002. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.203002

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 15, 2015
• Publication Date: May 19, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 12, 2016
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Print ISSN: 0031-9007
• Electronic ISSN: 1079-7114
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 114
• Article Number: 203002
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.203002
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/751923
• Publisher URL: http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.203002
• Additional Information: ©2015 American Physical Society
• Contract Date: Jul 12, 2016