Ultracold molecular Rydberg physics in a high density environment

TL;DR

This paper investigates ultralong-range polyatomic molecules formed in high-density Bose-Einstein condensates, analyzing their electronic structures, geometries, and spectral signatures to understand their unique properties.

Contribution

It provides an analytical study of the chemical and electronic properties of polyatomic Rydberg molecules in dense environments, including effects of molecular geometry.

Findings

Electronic wave functions are hybridized in these molecules.

Molecular geometry significantly influences spectral line profiles.

Properties evolve with increasing number of constituent atoms.

Abstract

Sufficiently high densities in Bose-Einstein condensates provide favorable conditions for the production of ultralong-range polyatomic molecules consisting of one Rydberg atom and a number of neutral ground state atoms. The chemical binding properties and electronic wave functions of these exotic molecules are investigated analytically via hybridized diatomic states. The effects of the molecular geometry on the system's properties are studied through comparisons of the adiabatic potential curves and electronic structures for both symmetric and randomly configured molecular geometries. General properties of these molecules with increasing numbers of constituent atoms and in different geometries are presented. These polyatomic states have spectral signatures that lead to non-Lorentzian line-profiles.