Rydberg-Rydberg interaction profile from the excitation dynamics of ultracold atoms in lattices

TL;DR

The paper introduces a method to determine Rydberg atom interaction potentials by analyzing excitation dynamics in a lattice, avoiding complex potential mapping.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to measure Rydberg interaction coefficients directly from excitation data in a lattice setup.

Findings

Interaction coefficient can be extracted from Rydberg atom number vs. laser detuning.

Method simplifies potential measurement by using fixed lattice spacing.

Approach reduces experimental complexity in Rydberg physics.

Abstract

We propose a method for the determination of the interaction potential of Rydberg atoms. Specifically, we consider a laser-driven Rydberg gas confined in a one-dimensional lattice and demonstrate that the Rydberg atom number after a laser excitation cycle as a function of the laser detuning provides a measure for the Rydberg interaction coefficient. With the lattice spacing precisely known, the proposed scheme only relies on the measurement of the number of Rydberg atoms and thus circumvents the necessity to map the interaction potential by varying the interparticle separation.