title: Landau-Zener transitions in frozen pairs of Rydberg atoms.
abstract: We have induced adiabatic transitions in pairs of frozen Rydberg sodium atoms of a supersonic beam. The diatomic ns+ns-->np+(n-1)p transition takes place in a time-dependent electric field and originates from the adiabatic change of the internal state of the pair induced by the dipole-dipole interaction. This is experimentally achieved by sweeping an electric field across the energy degeneracy ns ns-np(n-1)p. Our results fully agree with a two-level Landau-Zener model in the diatom system.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Aimé Cotton, CNRS, Bâtiment 505, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saquet
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cournol
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beugnon
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pillet
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vanhaecke