Dislocation-mediated melting of one-dimensional Rydberg crystals

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 04:00:00 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, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 84; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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