Hannover 2013 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 12: Ultracold plasmas and Rydberg atoms (with Q)
A 12.8: Talk
Monday, March 18, 2013, 18:30–18:45, E 415
Sub-Poissonian statistics of Rydberg-interacting dark-state polaritons — •Hanna Schempp1, Christoph S. Hofmann1, Georg Günter1, Martin Robert-de-Saint-Vincent1, Martin Gärttner2,3, Jörg Evers2, Shannon Whitlock1, and Matthias Weidemüller1 — 1Physikalisches Institut , Universität Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 12, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany — 2Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany — 3Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 16, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Interfacing light and matter at the quantum level is at the heart of modern atomic and optical physics and enables new quantum technologies involving the manipulation of single photons and atoms. A prototypical atom-light interface is electromagnetically induced transparency, in which quantum interference gives rise to hybrid states of photons and atoms called dark-state polaritons. We have observed individual dark-state polaritons as they propagate through an ultracold atomic gas involving Rydberg states [1]. Strong long-range interactions between Rydberg atoms give rise to an effective interaction blockade for dark-state polaritons, which results in large optical nonlinearities and modified polariton number statistics. The observed statistical fluctuations drop well below the quantum noise limit indicating that photon correlations modified by the strong interactions have a significant back-action on the Rydberg atom statistics.
[1] C.S. Hofmann et al., arXiv:1211.7265