Decay-dephasing-induced steady states in bosonic Rydberg-excited quantum gases in an optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper explores how decay and dephasing affect the stability of supersolid phases in bosonic Rydberg gases in optical lattices, showing that long-lived supersolids can exist under realistic non-unitary conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a combined analysis of many-body ground states and dynamical evolution under non-unitary processes in Rydberg-excited bosonic gases, revealing conditions for stable supersolids.

Findings

Long-lived supersolid phases are possible with moderate decay and dephasing rates.

High decay or dephasing rates lead to homogenization, destroying supersolid order.

Realistic experimental parameters can support observable supersolid states.

Abstract

We investigate the possibility of realizing supersolid quantum phases in bosonic Rydberg-excited quantum lattice gases in the presence of non-unitary processes, by simulating the dynamical evolution starting from initial preparation in non-dissipative equilibrium states. Within Gutzwiller theory, we first analyze the many-body ground-state of a bosonic Rydberg-excited quantum gas in a two dimensional optical lattice for variable atomic hopping rates and Rabi detunings. Furthermore, we perform time evolution of different supersolid phases using the Lindblad-master equation. With the inclusion of two different non-unitary processes, namely spontaneous decay from a Rydberg state to the ground state and dephasing of the addressed Rydberg state, we study the effect of non-unitary processes on those quantum phases and observe long-lived states in the presence of decay and dephasing. We find that long-lived supersolid quantum phases are observable within a range of realistic decay and dephasing rates, while high rates cause any initial configuration to homogenize quickly, preventing possible supersolid formation.