title: Evidence for strong van der Waals type Rydberg-Rydberg interaction in a thermal vapor.
abstract: We present evidence for Rydberg-Rydberg interaction in a gas of rubidium atoms above room temperature. Rabi oscillations on the nanosecond time scale to different Rydberg states are investigated in a vapor cell experiment. Analyzing the atomic time evolution and comparing to a dephasing model, we find a scaling with the Rydberg quantum number n that is consistent with van der Waals interaction. Our results show that the interaction strength can be larger than the kinetic energy scale (Doppler width), which is the requirement for realization of thermal quantum devices in the GHz regime.
authors.affiliation: 5. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baluktsian
authors.affiliation: 5. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.affiliation: 5. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Löw
authors.affiliation: 5. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pfau