2023/11/27 by Vineet Bharti, Seiji Sugawa, Bharti, Vineet +17 · 8 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) #Atomic physics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Excited state #FOS: Physical sciences #Mott insulator #Optical lattice #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas) #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Quantum computer #Quantum dynamics #Quantum mechanics #Quantum simulator #Rydberg atom #Rydberg formula #Wave function
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2311.15575
published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University)
openalex publication_date 2023/11/27 · openalex created_date 2023/11/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Rydberg atoms in optical lattices and tweezers is now a well established platform for simulating quantum spin systems. However, the role of the atoms' spatial wavefunction has not been examined in detail experimentally. Here, we show a strong spin-motion coupling emerging from the large variation of the interaction potential over the wavefunction spread. We observe its clear signature on the ultrafast many-body nanosecond-dynamics of atoms excited to a Rydberg S state, using picosecond pulses, from an unity-filling atomic Mott-insulator. We also propose a novel approach to tune arbitrarily the strength of the spin-motion coupling relative to the motional energy scale set by trapping potentials. Our work provides a new direction for exploring the dynamics of strongly-correlated quantum systems by adding the motional degree of freedom to the Rydberg simulation toolbox.