Dislocation-mediated melting of one-dimensional Rydberg crystals

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.84.085434· OSTI ID:21596857

Sela, Eran; Garst, Markus ^[1]; Punk, Matthias ^[2]

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1. Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Universitaet zu Koeln, Zuelpicher Str. 77, DE-50937 Koeln (Germany)
2. Physik Department, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, James-Franck-Strasse, DE-85748 Garching (Germany)

We consider cold Rydberg atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice in the Mott regime with a single atom per site at zero temperature. An external laser drive with Rabi frequency {Omega} and laser detuning {Delta} creates Rydberg excitations whose dynamics is governed by an effective spin-chain model with (quasi) long-range interactions. This system possesses intrinsically a large degree of frustration resulting in a ground-state phase diagram in the ({Delta},{Omega}) plane with a rich topology. As a function of {Delta}, the Rydberg blockade effect gives rise to a series of crystalline phases commensurate with the optical lattice that form a so-called devil's staircase. The Rabi frequency {Omega}, on the other hand, creates quantum fluctuations that eventually lead to a quantum melting of the crystalline states. Upon increasing {Omega}, we find that generically a commensurate-incommensurate transition to a floating Rydberg crystal that supports gapless phonon excitations occurs first. For even larger {Omega}, dislocations within the floating Rydberg crystal start to proliferate and a second, Kosterlitz-Thouless-Nelson-Halperin-Young dislocation-mediated melting transition finally destroys the crystalline arrangement of Rydberg excitations. This latter melting transition is generic for one-dimensional Rydberg crystals and persists even in the absence of an optical lattice. The floating phase and the concomitant transitions can, in principle, be detected by Bragg scattering of light.

• OSTI ID: 21596857
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 84, Issue 8; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.84.085434; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
BRAGG REFLECTION
CRYSTALS
DISLOCATIONS
EXCITATION
FLUCTUATIONS
GROUND STATES
INTERACTION RANGE
INTERFERENCE
LASER RADIATION
MELTING
PHASE DIAGRAMS
PHONONS
RYDBERG STATES
SCATTERING
SIMULATION
SPIN
STARK EFFECT
TOPOLOGY
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
CRYSTAL DEFECTS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DIAGRAMS
DISTANCE
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY LEVELS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EXCITED STATES
INFORMATION
LINE DEFECTS
MATHEMATICS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
QUASI PARTICLES
RADIATIONS
REFLECTION
VARIATIONS