Polyatomic trilobite Rydberg molecules in a dense random gas

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that polyatomic trilobite Rydberg molecules, characterized by large dipole moments, can exist and persist in dense ultracold gases due to quantum scarring and electron density localization, with implications for photoassociation processes.

Contribution

It reveals the unexpected stability and formation mechanisms of polyatomic trilobite Rydberg molecules in dense gases, highlighting quantum scarring effects and state mixing.

Findings

Polyatomic trilobite states persist in dense gases.

Quantum scarring localizes electron density on atom clusters.

State mixing enables photoassociation beyond usual selection rules.

Abstract

Trilobites are exotic giant dimers with enormous dipole moments. They consist of a Rydberg atom and a distant ground-state atom bound together by short-range electron-neutral attraction. We show that highly polar, polyatomic trilobite states unexpectedly persist and thrive in a dense ultracold gas of randomly positioned atoms. This is caused by perturbation-induced quantum scarring and the localization of electron density on randomly occurring atom clusters. At certain densities these states also mix with a s-state, overcoming selection rules that hinder the photoassociation of ordinary trilobites.