Rydberg States in Dense Atom Traps

这项实验研究计划将集中在全息原子陷阱(HAT)内超冷原子的里德堡态的性质。该项目利用蒸发冷却和绝热压缩实现了每立方厘米超过10^15个原子的原子密度，以及8微米或更小的云尺寸，将拥有一个独特且有前途的实验室来研究各种里德堡现象。该计划将重点研究所谓的封锁效应，即预测陷阱中即使只有一个里德堡原子的存在，也会阻止使用相同的激光场激发额外的里德堡原子。这种封锁为各种新现象带来了巨大的希望，例如快速的量子态检测和传输，单光子和单原子源，以及作为中性原子量子计算的纠缠机制。该项目更广泛的影响在于本科生的大量参与。

This experimental research program will focus on the properties of Rydberg states of ultracold atoms inside a Holographic Atom Trap (HAT). Having achieved atom densities in excess of 10^15 atoms per cubic centimeter, and cloud sizes of 8 microns or less using evaporative cooling and adiabatic compression, the project will have a unique and promising laboratory for studying a variety of Rydberg phenomena. The plan is to emphasize studies of the so-called blockade effect, where the presence of even a single Rydberg atom in the trap is predicted to preclude excitation of additional Rydberg atoms using the same laser fields. The blockade has tremendous promise for a variety of novel phenomena such as fast quantum state detection and transmission, single photon and single atom sources, and as an entanglement mechanism for neutral atom quantum computation. The broader impact of the program is in the significant undergraduate involvement.