Rydberg Excitation of a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Abstract

Rydberg excitation of an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate is performed. We show how the dipole-blockade mechanism restricts the number of Rydberg atoms it is possible to excite in such a cloud. Using the super-atom model we then look at the feasibility of observing coherent effects in even stricter geometries, one dimensional optical lattices.