Long-range interactions in H2 Rydberg states

S. Yoshida, Joachim Burgdörfer, Robert Fields +2 more

Sigrid Ina Simonsen, L Kocbach, J. P. Hansen

The PhD-candidate

Jovica Stanojevic, Robin Côté, D. Tong +3 more

D. Tong

New phenomena have been observed by exciting ultracold ground-state atoms to Rydberg states. Starting with a dense sample of Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap, we excite them to high Rydberg states (n = 30 - 90) with a single UV excitation pulse. Long-range molecular resonances with interatomic distances exceeding 104 a0 have been discovered. We have also observed the Rydberg excitation blockade, crucial for the implementation of quantum phase gates using neutral atoms. The physics behind these observations is attributed to the strong long-range van der Waals interactions among the Rydberg atoms. In addition, we have seen dipole (E1) forbidden but quadrupole (E2) allowed 5s → nd transitions, allowing us to determine the E2 oscillator strengths to these high Rydberg states. Our narrow-band UV pulsed laser system, with ∼100 MHz bandwidth, also allows us to measure the ratios of j-dependent oscillator strengths to the p and d Rydberg states. ^

Alistair D. Bounds, Niamh Jackson, R Hanley +4 more

We propose and demonstrate the laser cooling and trapping of Rydberg-dressed Sr atoms. By off-resonantly coupling the excited state of a narrow (7 kHz) cooling transition to a high-lying Rydberg state, we transfer Rydberg properties such as enhanced electric polarizability to a stable magneto-optical trap operating at <1 μK. Simulations show that it is possible to reach a regime where the long-range interaction between Rydberg-dressed atoms becomes comparable to the kinetic energy, opening a route to combining laser cooling with tunable long-range interactions.

Jovica Stanojevic, Robin C ot 'e