Full counting statistics and phase diagram of a dissipative Rydberg gas

TL;DR

This study investigates the full counting statistics and phase diagram of a dissipative Rydberg gas, revealing bimodal distributions and phase coexistence, advancing understanding of many-body effects in such quantum systems.

Contribution

First experimental measurement of full counting statistics and phase diagram in a dissipative Rydberg gas, confirming theoretical predictions.

Findings

Bimodal counting distributions in off-resonant regime

Evidence of dynamical phase coexistence

Agreement with theoretical phase diagram predictions

Abstract

Ultra-cold gases excited to strongly interacting Rydberg states are a promising system for quantum simulations of many-body systems. For off-resonant excitation of such systems in the dissipative regime, highly correlated many-body states exhibiting, among other characteristics, intermittency and multi-modal counting distributions are expected to be created. So far, experiments with Rydberg atoms have been carried out in the resonant, non-dissipative regime. Here we realize a dissipative gas of rubidium Rydberg atoms and measure its full counting statistics for both resonant and off-resonant excitation. We find strongly bimodal counting distributions in the off-resonant regime that are compatible with intermittency due to the coexistence of dynamical phases. Moreover, we measure the phase diagram of the system and find good agreement with recent theoretical predictions. Our results pave the way towards detailed studies of many-body effects in Rydberg gases.