title: Designing frustrated quantum magnets with laser-dressed Rydberg atoms.
abstract: We show how a broad class of lattice spin-1/2 models with angular- and distance-dependent couplings can be realized with cold alkali atoms stored in optical or magnetic trap arrays. The effective spin-1/2 is represented by a pair of atomic ground states, and spin-spin interactions are obtained by admixing van der Waals interactions between fine-structure split Rydberg states with laser light. The strengths of the diagonal spin interactions as well as the "flip-flop," and "flip-flip" and "flop-flop" interactions can be tuned by exploiting quantum interference, thus realizing different spin symmetries. The resulting energy scales of interactions compare well with typical temperatures and decoherence time scales, making the exploration of exotic forms of quantum magnetism, including emergent gauge theories and compass models, accessible within state-of-the-art experiments.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.|Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Glaetzle
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.|Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dalmonte
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.|Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.|Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune 411 008, India.
authors.forename: Rejish
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nath
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching, Germany.|Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Immanuel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bloch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.|Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.|Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zoller