Engineered samples of Ultracold Rydberg Atoms

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This experiment research project focuses on an exploration of energy transport in ultracold gases coupled by long range dipole-dipole interactions. The proposed experiments will explore the diffusion of energy through a sample of Rydberg atoms. This work is related to several experiments proposed or currently underway in ultracold ground-state atoms and molecules. The focus of all of these experiments is on the impact of nonisotropic potentials on the dynamics of many-body systems with the goal of gaining insight into condensed-matter systems, plasma systems, and ultracold gases. The proposed experiments will build on prior work by creating spatially structured samples of Rydberg states and exploring the spatial redistribution of the energy using a spatially sensitive detector which the group has recently constructed. Computational analysis and modeling of the experiments will also be performed. The broader impact of this work is in its connection to ultracold gas studies and condensed matter physics, and in its educational impact on graduate students and the undergraduate research of women students at Bryn Mawr College.