Anisotropic Rydberg Interactions

William R. Clark

Christoph Tresp, Przemysław Bienias, Sebastian Weber +4 more

We experimentally study the effects of the anisotropic Rydberg interaction on D-state Rydberg polaritons slowly propagating through a cold atomic sample. We observe the interaction-induced dephasing of Rydberg polaritons at very low photon input rates into the medium. We develop a model combining the propagation of the two-photon wave function through our system with nonperturbative calculations of the anisotropic Rydberg interaction to show that the observed effect can be attributed to pairwise interaction of individual Rydberg polaritons at distances larger than the Rydberg blockade.

Benoît Vermersch

We present a guide to calculate the interactions between Rydberg states, and put into evidence the importance of the anisotropic and state-mixing character of these interactions for p and d states. We then summarize recent theoretical results obtained in this context related to the formation of anisotropic Rydberg excitation patterns and the influence of state-mixing on the familiar Rydberg blockade phenomenon.

Jonathan D. Pritchard

Benoît Vermersch, M Punk, A W Glaetzle +2 more

We describe the dynamical preparation of anisotropic crystalline phases obtained by laser-exciting ultracold Alkali atoms to Rydberg p-states where they interact via anisotropic van der Waals interactions. We develop a time-dependent variational mean field ansatz to model large, but finite two-dimensional systems in experimentally accessible parameter regimes, and we present numerical simulations to illustrate the dynamical formation of anisotropic Rydberg crystals.

F. Robicheaux, Jesús Hernández‐Saz