Rydberg States in Dense Atom Traps

这个实验研究计划将集中于全息原子阱（HAT）内超冷原子的里德伯态的性质。利用蒸发冷却和绝热压缩，该项目已经实现了超过10^15个原子每立方厘米的原子密度，以及8微米或更小的云大小，该项目将拥有一个独特而有前途的实验室，用于研究各种里德伯现象。计划是强调所谓的封锁效应的研究，在这种情况下，即使在陷阱中存在一个里德伯原子，预计也会阻止使用相同的激光场激发额外的里德伯原子。阻滞对于快速量子态探测和传输、单光子和单原子源以及中性原子量子计算的纠缠机制等各种新现象具有巨大的前景。该项目更广泛的影响在于本科生的参与。

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.