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We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the effects of Rydberg interactions on Autler-Townes spectra of ultracold gases of atomic strontium. Realizing two-photon Rydberg excitation via a long-lived triplet state allows us to probe the regime where Rydberg state decay presents the dominant decoherence mechanism. The effects of Rydberg interactions are observed in shifts, asymmetries, and broadening of the measured atom-loss spectra. The experiment is analyzed within a one-body density-matrix approach, accounting for interaction-induced level shifts and dephasing through nonlinear terms that approximately incorporate correlations due to the Rydberg blockade. This description yields good agreement with our experimental observations for short excitation times. For longer excitation times, the loss spectrum is altered qualitatively, suggesting additional dephasing mechanisms beyond the standard blockade mechanism based on pure van der Waals interactions

We develop an approach to generate finite-range atomic interactions via optical Rydberg-state excitation and study the underlying excitation dynamics in theory and experiment. In contrast to previous work, the proposed scheme is based on resonant optical driving and the establishment of a dark state under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Analyzing the driven dissipative dynamics of the atomic gas, we show that the interplay between coherent light coupling, radiative decay and strong Rydberg-Rydberg atom interactions leads to the emergence of sizeable effective interactions while providing remarkably long coherence times. The latter are studied experimentally in a cold gas of strontium atoms for which the proposed scheme is most efficient. Our measured atom loss is in agreement with the theoretical prediction based on binary effective interactions between the driven atoms.

The near-resonant dressing of cold strontium gases and BECs contained in an optical dipole trap (ODT) with the 5s30s 3 S1 Rydberg state is investigated as a function of the effective two-photon Rabi frequency, detuning, and dressing time. The measurements demonstrate that a rapid decrease in the ground-state atom population in the ODT occurs even for weak dressing and when well detuned from resonance. This decrease is attributed to Rydberg atom excitation which can lead to direct escape from the trap and to population of very-long-lived 5s5p 3 P0,2 metastable states. The effects of interaction between Rydberg atoms including those populated by black-body radiation are analyzed. The work has important implications when considering the use of Rydberg dressing to control the interactions between dressed ground-state atoms.