Cold Rydberg atoms in optical traps: probing the electric field of individual quantum objects

探索理解和控制单个量子物体的相互作用是现代物理学中最具挑战性的问题之一。近年来，由于一系列可能的新应用，人们对如何设计超冷原子与离子之间的相互作用产生了快速增长的兴趣，特别是在量子信息、多体系统和冷化学领域。超冷里德堡原子提供了一种独特的实验工具来研究和控制原子系统之间的相互作用，因为它们看起来是冻结的，在实验感兴趣的时间范围内可以忽略不计的移动。在超冷Rydberg原子云中，动力学仅由Rydberg-Rydberg相互作用决定。这些相互作用可以很容易地通过控制电子态(主量子数)、外部电场甚至原子间的距离来调节。在这个项目中，将进行新的实验，旨在研究存储在微米大小的偶极陷阱中的小原子云的相互作用，当每个云中可控数量的原子(一个或多个)敢于激发到里德堡态时。利用里德堡原子对电场的高度敏感性，最终目标是使用光陷中的单个激发原子来探测另一个里德堡原子或里德堡原子阵列的电场。

The quest for understanding and controlling the interaction of individual quantum objects is one of the most challenging in modern physics. Recent years have seen a rapid growth of interest in how to engineer interactions between ultra-coldatoms and ions due to a range of possible new applications, particularly in the fields of quantum information, many-body systems and cold chemistry.Ultra-cold Rydberg atoms offer a unique experimental tool to study and control interactions amongst atomic systems since they appear to be frozen , moving negligibly during the time scale of experimental interest. In a cloud of ultracoldRydberg atoms, the dynamics are then determined by Rydberg-Rydberg interactions only. These interactions can be easily tuned, by controlling the electronic state (principal quantum number), external electric fields or even the interatomic distance.In this project, novel experiments will be performed which are oriented towards studying the interactions of small clouds of atoms stored in micrometer-sized dipole traps, when a controllable number of atoms (one or more) in each cloudare excited to a Rydberg state. Exploiting the high sensitivity of Rydberg atoms to electric fields, the ultimate goal is to use a single excited atom in an optical trap to probe the electric field of another Rydberg atom or arrays of Rydbergatoms.