Atom-Pair Kinetics with Strong Electric-Dipole Interactions.
Rydberg-atom ensembles are switched from a weakly to a strongly interacting regime via adiabatic transformation of the atoms from an approximately nonpolar into a highly dipolar quantum state. The resultant electric dipole-dipole forces are probed using a device akin to a field ion microscope. Ion imaging and pair-correlation analysis reveal the kinetics of the interacting atoms. Dumbbell-shaped pair-correlation images demonstrate the anisotropy of the binary dipolar force. The dipolar C_{3} coefficient, derived from the time dependence of the images, agrees with the value calculated from the permanent electric-dipole moment of the atoms. The results indicate many-body dynamics akin to disorder-induced heating in strongly coupled particle systems.
Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
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Thaicharoen
Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 369, 13560-970 São Carlos, São Paulo, Brasil.
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Gonçalves
Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
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Raithel