arXiv:1207.3716 · Physical Review A
Fractional quantum Hall physics with ultracold Rydberg gases in artificial gauge fields
Fabian Grusdt, Michael Fleischhauer
Abstract
We study ultracold Rydberg-dressed Bose gases subject to artificial gauge fields in the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) regime. The characteristics of the Rydberg interaction give rise to interesting many-body ground states different from standard FQH physics in the lowest Landau level. The nonlocal but rapidly decreasing interaction potential favors crystalline ground states for very dilute systems. While a simple Wigner crystal becomes energetically favorable compared to the Laughlin liquid for filling fractions $\ensuremath{\nu}<1/12$, a correlated crystal of composite particles emerges already for $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\le}1/6$ with a large energy gap to the simple Wigner crystal. The presence of a new length scale, the Rydberg blockade radius ${a}_{B}$, gives rise to a bubble crystal phase for $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\lesssim}1/4$ when the average particle distance becomes less than ${a}_{B}$, which describes the region of saturated, almost constant interaction potential. For larger fillings indications for strongly correlated cluster liquids are found.