Full counting distribution and phase diagram of a strongly interacting Rydberg gas

Abstract

Atoms excited to high-lying quantum states, so-called Rydberg atoms, are highly polarizable and, therefore, interact strongly with each other even at large distances. One result of these interactions is the Rydberg dipole blockade effect, in which an excited atom may prevent other atoms from being excited by shifting them out of resonance. This blockade offers several applications, such as the realization of quantum logic gates [1] and the possibility of creating entangled states with two atoms [2]. Furthermore, the blockade mechanism constitutes the basis for the observation of many-body effects [3] involving long-range correlations and crystallization of Rydberg excitations [4