Dipole–quadrupole Förster resonance in cesium Rydberg gas

Abstract

The resonant energy transfer between two close particles, also known as Förster resonance in atomic or biological systems, is usually associated with dipole–dipole interaction. In Rydberg atoms, it is a widely used tool to enhance the interactions between particles. Here, we observe a resonant energy transfer between Rydberg atoms that cannot be attributed to a dipole–dipole interaction, owing to selection rules, and comes instead from an efficient dipole–quadrupole process. We compare the measured probability transfer with a theoretical model including quadrupolar terms and find very good agreement with our measurement. Further studies of those multipolar resonances should probe their dependences on various parameters (quantum numbers, relative orientation of the atoms), and may find some applications in quantum procedures where dipole–dipole resonance cannot be used, for instance where the states of interest have a difference in angular momentum of two.

Observation of the Borromean Three-Body Förster Resonances for Three Interacting Rb Rydberg Atoms

“…This is especially attractive for the development of quantum computers and simulators based on qubits represented by single alkali-metal atoms in arrays of optical dipole traps or optical lattices [2][3][4][5]. In particular, Rydberg-atom-based quantum simulators can directly model various objects in solid-state physics due to their ability to mimic various possible interactions between their constituents, if such interactions in a quantum simulator are appropriately controlled [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].Interactions between Rydberg atoms are flexibly controlled by the dc or radio-frequency (rf) electric field via Stark-tuned [15], microwave [16][17][18][19], or rf-assisted [4,16] Förster resonances corresponding to the Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET). Förster resonances have been demonstrated to be efficient tools in cold Rydberg atoms [20,21] to tune interactions in strength and distance and can be either resonant dipole-dipole or nonresonant van der Waals interactions.…”

Corrigendum: Dipole–quadrupole Förster resonance in cesium Rydberg gas (2016J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys.49214001)

“…In our article (Maineult et al 2016), we have noticed a conversion error implying an error of a factor 10 in the display of figure 1. The correct figure can be seen below.…”

Dynamics of resonant energy transfer in one-dimensional chain of Rydberg atoms

“…Since these interactions can govern naturally without the influence from the external electric field, it has several advantages to study them. This phenomena may also be applicable to explain the cascading networks for complex energy transfer in the biological systems [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Due to sufficiently long persistence of these resonant behaviours in the Rydberg atoms, it is feasible to observe them experimentally and apply the energy transfer principle to various domains [28].…”