Electromagnetically induced transparency with Rydberg atoms

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model for electromagnetically induced transparency in cold Rydberg atom ensembles, accounting for strong interactions and superatom behavior, aligning well with recent experimental results.

Contribution

It introduces an efficient theoretical framework that captures the effects of Rydberg interactions on EIT, emphasizing the superatom model and two-photon correlations.

Findings

Model agrees quantitatively with experimental data

Superatom behavior constrains the medium's response

Two-photon correlations are strongly damped

Abstract

We present a theory of electromagnetically induced transparency in a cold ensemble of strongly interacting Rydberg atoms. Long-range interactions between the atoms constrain the medium to behave as a collection of superatoms, each comprising a blockade volume that can accommodate at most one Rydberg excitation. The propagation of a probe field is affected by its two-photon correlations within the blockade distance, which are strongly damped due to low saturation threshold of the superatoms. Our model is computationally very efficient and is in quantitative agreement with the results of recent experiment of Pritchard et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 193603 (2010)].