Rydberg excitation of Bose-Einstein condensates
Quantum Physics
2008-01-23 v1
Abstract
Rydberg atoms provide a wide range of possibilities to tailor interactions in a quantum gas. Here we report on Rydberg excitation of Bose-Einstein condensed 87Rb atoms. The Rydberg fraction was investigated for various excitation times and temperatures above and below the condensation temperature. The excitation is locally blocked by the van der Waals interaction between Rydberg atoms to a density-dependent limit. Therefore the abrupt change of the thermal atomic density distribution to the characteristic bimodal distribution upon condensation could be observed in the Rydberg fraction. The observed features are reproduced by a simulation based on local collective Rydberg excitations.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0710.5622,
title = {Rydberg excitation of Bose-Einstein condensates},
author = {Rolf Heidemann and Ulrich Raitzsch and Vera Bendkowsky and Björn Butscher and Robert Löw and Tilman Pfau},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0710.5622},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 figures