Motional Quantum States of Surface Electrons on Liquid Helium in a Tilted Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper explores the motional quantum states of surface electrons on liquid helium in a tilted magnetic field, demonstrating their potential as a controllable platform for quantum experiments akin to atomic systems.

Contribution

It provides both theoretical and experimental analysis of spectroscopic properties, linking condensed matter systems with atomic physics phenomena.

Findings

Observation of phenomena similar to light dressed states in atomic systems

Electrons on helium can be engineered for high-precision quantum control

Potential application as a flexible quantum platform

Abstract

The Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM), one of the paradigms of quantum electrodynamics, was introduced to describe interaction between light and a fictitious two-level atom. Recently it was suggested that the JCM Hamiltonian can be invoked to describe the motional states of electrons trapped on the surface of liquid helium and subjected to a constant uniform magnetic field tilted with respect to the surface [Yunusova et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 176802 (2019)]. In this case, the surface-bound (Rydberg) states of an electron are coupled to the electron cyclotron motion by the in-plane component of tilted field. Here we investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the spectroscopic properties of surface electrons in a tilted magnetic field and demonstrate that such a system exhibits a variety of phenomena common to the light dressed states of atomic and molecular systems. This shows that electrons on helium realize a prototypical atomic system where interaction between components can be engineered and controlled by simple means and with high accuracy, and which therefore can be potentially used as a new flexible platform for quantum experiments. Our work introduces a pure condensed-matter system of electrons on helium into the context of atomic, molecular and optical physics.