Three-Dimensional Roton Excitations and Supersolid Formation in Rydberg-Excited Bose-Einstein Condensates

Journal Article · Fri May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.104.195302· OSTI ID:21410728

Henkel, N; Nath, R; Pohl, T ^[1]

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1. Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Noethnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden (Germany)

We study the behavior of a Bose-Einstein condensate in which atoms are weakly coupled to a highly excited Rydberg state. Since the latter have very strong van der Waals interactions, this coupling induces effective, nonlocal interactions between the dressed ground state atoms, which, opposed to dipolar interactions, are isotropically repulsive. Yet, one finds partial attraction in momentum space, giving rise to a roton-maxon excitation spectrum and a transition to a supersolid state in three-dimensional condensates. A detailed analysis of decoherence and loss mechanisms suggests that these phenomena are observable with current experimental capabilities.

• OSTI ID: 21410728
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 19; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.195302; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
EXCITATION
GROUND STATES
MATHEMATICAL SPACE
ROTATIONAL STATES
RYDBERG STATES
SOLIDS
SPECTRA
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
VAN DER WAALS FORCES
WEAK-COUPLING MODEL
ENERGY LEVELS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EXCITED STATES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUCLEAR MODELS
SPACE