Coupled rate-equation hydrodynamic simulation of a Rydberg gas Gaussian ellipsoid: Classical avalanche and evolution to molecular plasma

TL;DR

This paper models the rapid formation and evolution of a strongly coupled ultracold plasma from a Rydberg gas using coupled rate-equation simulations, revealing electron-driven avalanches and plasma expansion dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a classical simulation framework for Rydberg gas to plasma transition, capturing kinetic processes and molecular dissociation in experimental geometries.

Findings

Fast electron-driven collisional avalanche predicted

Electron temperature reaches 100 K within 20 μs

Ion expansion driven by hot electron gas observed

Abstract

An ellipsoidal volume of Rydberg molecules, entrained in a supersonic molecular beam, evolves on a nanosecond timescale to form a strongly coupled ultracold plasma. We present coupled rate-equation simulations that model the underlying kinetic processes and molecular dissociation channels in both a uniformly distributed plasma and under the conditions dictated by our experimental geometry. Simulations predict a fast electron-driven collisional avalanche to plasma followed by slow electron-ion recombination. Within 20 $\mu$s, release of Rydberg binding energy raises the electron temperature of a static plasma to $T_e = 100$ K. Providing for a quasi-self-similar expansion, the hot electron gas drives ion radial motion, reducing $T_e$. These simulations provide a classical baseline model from which to consider quantum effects in the evolution of charge gradients and ambipolar forces in an experimental system undergoing responsive avalanche dynamics.