Ultracold Atoms Near the Ionization Threshold

这是一个研究接近电离阈值的超冷原子的程序。铷原子将使用激光技术进行冷却，然后在低于电离极限的激发下产生超冷里德伯原子气体，或者在高于阈值的电离下产生超冷等离子体。一旦达到这些状态，原子相互作用和等离子体物理将在这个全新的极低动能和势能的参数空间中探索。集体效应预计将出现在里德堡物种中，而电离状态应表现出强耦合中性等离子体的特性。

This is a program to investigate ultra-cold atoms near the ionization threshold. Rubidium atoms will be chilled using laser techniques, followed by excitation just below the ionization limit to produce a gas of ultra-cold Rydberg atoms or ionization just above the threshold to produce an ultra-cold plasma. Once these states are reached, atomic interactions and plasma physics will be explored in this entirely new parameter space of extremely low kinetic and potential energies. Collective effects are expected to emerge for the Rydberg species, while the ionized state should demonstrate properties of a strongly-coupled neutral plasma.