title: Microwaves Probe Dipole Blockade and van der Waals Forces in a Cold Rydberg Gas.
abstract: We show that microwave spectroscopy of a dense Rydberg gas trapped on a superconducting atom chip in the dipole blockade regime reveals directly the dipole-dipole many-body interaction energy spectrum. We use this method to investigate the expansion of the Rydberg cloud under the effect of repulsive van der Waals forces and the breakdown of the frozen gas approximation. This study opens a promising route for quantum simulation of many-body systems and quantum information transport in chains of strongly interacting Rydberg atoms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: R Celistrino
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hermann-Avigliano
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cantat-Moltrecht
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Raimond
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haroche
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gleyzes
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Collège de France, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brune