23 research outputs found
Mechanical effect of van der Waals interactions observed in real time in an ultracold Rydberg gas
We present time-resolved spectroscopic measurements of Rydberg-Rydberg
interactions in an ultracold gas, revealing the pair dynamics induced by
long-range van der Waals interactions between the atoms. By detuning the
excitation laser, a specific pair distribution is prepared. Penning ionization
on a microsecond timescale serves as a probe for the pair dynamics under the
influence of the attractive long-range forces. Comparison with a Monte Carlo
model not only explains all spectroscopic features but also gives quantitative
information about the interaction potentials. The results imply that the
interaction-induced ionization rate can be influenced by the excitation laser.
Surprisingly, interaction-induced ionization is also observed for Rydberg
states with purely repulsive interactions
Autoionization of an ultracold Rydberg gas through resonant dipole coupling
We investigate a possible mechanism for the autoionization of ultracold
Rydberg gases, based on the resonant coupling of Rydberg pair states to the
ionization continuum. Unlike an atomic collision where the wave functions begin
to overlap, the mechanism considered here involves only the long-range dipole
interaction and is in principle possible in a static system. It is related to
the process of intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD). In addition, we include
the interaction-induced motion of the atoms and the effect of multi-particle
systems in this work. We find that the probability for this ionization
mechanism can be increased in many-particle systems featuring attractive or
repulsive van der Waals interactions. However, the rates for ionization through
resonant dipole coupling are very low. It is thus unlikely that this process
contributes to the autoionization of Rydberg gases in the form presented here,
but it may still act as a trigger for secondary ionization processes. As our
picture involves only binary interactions, it remains to be investigated if
collective effects of an ensemble of atoms can significantly influence the
ionization probability. Nevertheless our calculations may serve as a starting
point for the investigation of more complex systems, such as the coupling of
many pair states proposed in [Tanner et al., PRL 100, 043002 (2008)]
Scaling law of the plasma turbulence with non conservative fluxes
It is shown that in the presence of anisotropic kinetic dissipation existence
of scale invariant power law spectrum of plasma turbulence is possible.
Obtained scale invariant spectrum is not associated with the constant flux of
any physical quantity. Application of the model to the high frequency part of
the solar wind turbulence is discussed.Comment: Phys Rev E, accepte
Solar Wind Turbulence and the Role of Ion Instabilities
International audienc
Evidence for electron Landau damping in space plasma turbulence
How turbulent energy is dissipated in weakly collisional space and astrophysical plasmas is a major open question. Here, we present the application of a field-particle correlation technique to directly measure the transfer of energy between the turbulent electromagnetic field and electrons in the Earth's magnetosheath, the region of solar wind downstream of the Earth's bow shock. The measurement of the secular energy transfer from the parallel electric field as a function of electron velocity shows a signature consistent with Landau damping. This signature is coherent over time, close to the predicted resonant velocity, similar to that seen in kinetic Alfven turbulence simulations, and disappears under phase randomisation. This suggests that electron Landau damping could play a significant role in turbulent plasma heating, and that the technique is a valuable tool for determining the particle energisation processes operating in space and astrophysical plasmas.STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship [ST/N003748/2]; NASA HSR grant [NNX16AM23G]; NSF CAREER Award [AGS-1054061]; NASA HGI grant [80NSSC18K0643]; NASA MMS GI grant [80NSSC18K1371]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]