Full counting statistics of laser excited Rydberg aggregates in a one-dimensional geometry

TL;DR

This paper experimentally investigates the full counting statistics of Rydberg aggregates in a quasi-one-dimensional gas, revealing liquid-like correlations and sequential growth, highlighting dissipative effects in strongly interacting quantum systems.

Contribution

It introduces a method to analyze spatio-temporal correlations in Rydberg gases without imaging, combining experimental data with numerical simulations.

Findings

Asymmetric excitation spectra observed

Increased second and third order moments of Rydberg number distribution

Evidence of liquid-like spatial correlations and sequential aggregate growth

Abstract

We experimentally study the full counting statistics of few-body Rydberg aggregates excited from a quasi-one-dimensional Rydberg gas. We measure asymmetric excitation spectra and increased second and third order statistical moments of the Rydberg number distribution, from which we determine the average aggregate size. Direct comparisons with numerical simulations reveal the presence of liquid-like spatial correlations, and indicate sequential growth of the aggregates around an initial grain. These findings demonstrate the importance of dissipative effects in strongly correlated Rydberg gases and introduce a way to study spatio-temporal correlations in strongly-interacting many-body quantum systems without imaging.