Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 33: SYRA 3: Ultracold Rydberg Atoms and Molecules 3
A 33.9: Talk
Thursday, March 15, 2012, 12:30–12:45, V7.03
Nonlocal Nonlinear Optics in cold Rydberg Gases — •Sevilay Sevinçli1,2, Nils Henkel1, Cenap Ates1, and Thomas Pohl1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01187 Dresden,Germany — 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) provides remarkable possibilities for nonlinear optics by enabling ultraslow group velocities and storage of light. The combination of EIT and interacting Rydberg gases has recently attracted considerable theoretical and experimental interest, as it holds promise for realizing extremely large nonlinearities by exploiting the exaggerated interactions between Rydberg atoms.
We present an analytical theory of the nonlinear response of cold Rydberg gases. This yields simple expressions for the third order susceptibilities which are in excellent agreement with recent measurements. It is further found that the nonlinear susceptibility is not only drastically enhanced but also highly nonlocal in nature, corresponding to long-range photon-photon interactions. Considering the propagation of light in such a Rydberg-EIT medium, this gives rise to a wealth of nonlinear wave phenomena, including soliton formation or modulation instabilities of strongly interacting light fields.