Strongly correlated growth of Rydberg aggregates in a vapor cell

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that strong Rydberg atom interactions can induce many-body phenomena in room-temperature vapor, enabling real-time observation of aggregation dynamics consistent with theoretical models.

Contribution

It shows for the first time that Rydberg aggregation phenomena occur in atomic vapor at room temperature, supported by experiments and microscopic simulations.

Findings

Observation of real-time Rydberg aggregation in vapor

Qualitative and quantitative agreement with theoretical models

Aggregation dynamics resemble soft-matter systems

Abstract

The observation of strongly interacting many-body phenomena in atomic gases typically requires ultracold samples. Here we show that the strong interaction potentials between Rydberg atoms enable the observation of many-body effects in an atomic vapor, even at room temperature. We excite Rydberg atoms in cesium vapor and observe in real-time an out-of-equilibrium excitation dynamics that is consistent with an aggregation mechanism. The experimental observations show qualitative and quantitative agreement with a microscopic theoretical model. Numerical simulations reveal that the strongly correlated growth of the emerging aggregates is reminiscent of soft-matter type systems.