arXiv:1308.1854 · Physical Review Letters
Full Counting Statistics and Phase Diagram of a Dissipative Rydberg Gas
Nicola Malossi, María Martínez Valado, Stefano Scotto, Paul H. Huillery, P. Pillet, D. Ciampini, E. Arimondo, O. Morsch
Abstract
Ultracold gases excited to strongly interacting Rydberg states are a promising system for quantum simulations of many-body systems. For off-resonant excitation of such systems in the dissipative regime, highly correlated many-body states exhibiting, among other characteristics, intermittency and multimodal counting distributions are expected to be created. Here we report on the realization of a dissipative gas of rubidium Rydberg atoms and on the measurement of its full counting statistics and phase diagram for both resonant and off-resonant excitation. We find strongly bimodal counting distributions in the off-resonant regime that are compatible with intermittency due to the coexistence of dynamical phases. Our results pave the way towards detailed studies of many-body effects in Rydberg gases.