Ring Rydberg Composites

TL;DR

This paper introduces the concept of Ring Rydberg Composites, a system where a ring of ground state atoms interacts with a Rydberg atom, leading to tunable quantum properties analyzed through a new tight-binding model.

Contribution

It develops a novel theoretical framework transforming the electronic Hamiltonian into a discrete tight-binding model for Ring Rydberg Composites, enabling analytic solutions and scaling laws.

Findings

Derived analytic expressions for wave functions and eigenspectrum.

Identified tunable properties based on ring size, scatterers, and quantum number.

Revealed rich, controllable quantum behaviors in the system.

Abstract

The properties and behaviour of a Ring Rydberg Composite are explicated. This system consists of a ring of ground state atoms centered on a Rydberg atom, whose electron elastically scatters off the ground state atoms. We transform the electronic Hamiltonian into a discrete tight-binding representation in which the on-site energies and long-range hopping between sites are controlled and mediated by the Rydberg electron. From this new representation, which to a large extent enables an analytic treatment, we derive scaling laws and analytic expressions for the wave functions and eigenspectrum. The interface between ring and Rydberg geometries leads to a range of rich properties which can be tuned as a function of ring size, number of scatterers, and principal quantum number.