Catalysis of Stark-tuned Interactions between Ultracold Rydberg Atoms
Aye Lu Win, Old Dominion University
The strong long-range interaction between ultracold Rydberg atoms gives rise to a number of interesting phenomena that have been studied in recent years including resonant energy transfer collisions, many-body quantum simulations, quantum information processing, and ultracold plasmas. The dipole-dipole interaction between a pair of Rydberg atoms can result in a state-changing interaction if the energy defect for the process is small. The collisional energy transfer process can be tuned into resonance via the Stark effect. Such resonances are known as Förster resonances. In this talk, we will discuss a recent study of the time dependence of resonant energy transfer process and of a catalysis effect in the resonant energy transfer between ultracold 85Rb Rydberg atoms. We have investigated the energy transfer process of 34p + 34p → 34s + 35s, and observed Stark-tuned Förster resonances. When additional Rydberg atoms of 34d state are included in the interaction, an increase in the population of 34s states atoms was observed. Although the 34d state atoms do not directly participate in the resonant energy transfer process that produces 34s state atoms (shown above), they add an additional interaction channel 34p + 34d → 34d + 34p that is resonant for all electric fields and results in a change in the rate in which 34s atoms are produced. We will present our experimental results and compare them with model simulations.