Hannover 2016 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 12: Ultracold plasmas and Rydberg systems I (with Q)
A 12.6: Talk
Monday, February 29, 2016, 18:15–18:30, f303
Dynamics of cluster formation and non-equilibrium phases of Rydberg excitations in the anti-blockade regime — •Fabian Letscher1,2, Thomas Niederprüm1, Oliver Thomas1,2, Tanita Eichert1, Herwig Ott1, and Michael Fleischhauer1 — 1Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany — 2Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strasse 47, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
Motivated by recent experiments we discuss theoretically the dynamics and temporal correlations of Rydberg excitations in the anti-blockade regime. In this regime spatially extended regions of atoms in the ground state coexist with connected clusters of Rydberg excitations. Measurements performed on an atomic lattice gas show that the non-equilibrium dynamics in the steady state is characterized by strong temporal bunching and large correlation times. The latter arise from two competing intrinsic timescales: In the two-step excitation process, the first Rydberg excitation is highly suppressed, while the second excitation is strongly enhanced. We simulate the dynamics of large lattice systems using a many-body rate equation model which shows good agreement with the experiments. To understand the main features of the two-particle correlations we introduce a simplified cluster model and discuss its many-body dynamics.