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Plasma formation from ultracold Rydberg gases

T. Pohl, T. Pattard, and J. M. Rost
Phys. Rev. A 68, 010703(R) – Published 25 July 2003
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Abstract

Recent experiments have demonstrated the spontaneous evolution of a gas of ultracold Rydberg atoms into an expanding ultracold plasma, as well as the reverse process of plasma recombination into highly excited atomic states. Treating the evolution of the plasma on the basis of kinetic equations, while ionization/excitation and recombination are incorporated using rate equations, we have investigated theoretically the Rydberg-to-plasma transition. Including the influence of spatial correlations on the plasma dynamics in an approximate way, we find that ionic correlations change the results quantitatively but not qualitatively.

  • Received 17 February 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.68.010703

©2003 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

T. Pohl, T. Pattard, and J. M. Rost

  • MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, D-01187 Dresden, Germany

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Vol. 68, Iss. 1 — July 2003

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