Simulations of the angular dependence of the dipole-dipole interaction among Rydberg atoms

TL;DR

This paper simulates how the angular dependence of dipole-dipole interactions among Rydberg atoms affects energy transport, revealing measurable anisotropic effects and potential localization phenomena in experimental setups.

Contribution

It introduces detailed simulations of anisotropic dipole-dipole interactions in Rydberg atoms, highlighting their impact on energy transfer and localization in amorphous systems.

Findings

Measurable anisotropic effects in energy transport due to dipole orientation.

Localization of energy transfer near the boundary of $p$-character regions.

Calculated correlation length of 6.3 micrometers in a specific geometry.

Abstract

The dipole-dipole interaction between two Rydberg atoms depends on the relative orientation of the atoms and on the change in the magnetic quantum number. We simulate the effect of this anisotropy on the energy transport in an amorphous many atom system subject to a homogeneous applied electric field. We consider two experimentally feasible geometries and find that the effects should be measurable in current generation imaging experiments. In both geometries atoms of $p$ character are localized to a small region of space which is immersed in a larger region that is filled with atoms of $s$ character. Energy transfer due to the dipole-dipole interaction can lead to a spread of $p$ character into the region initially occupied by $s$ atoms. Over long timescales the energy transport is confined to the volume near the border of the $p$ region which is suggestive of Anderson localization. We calculate a correlation length of 6.3~$\mu$m for one particular geometry.