Steady-state crystallization of Rydberg excitations in an optically driven lattice gas

Michael Höning, Dominik Muth, David Petrosyan, and Michael Fleischhauer
Phys. Rev. A 87, 023401 – Published 4 February 2013

Abstract

We study the conditions for attaining crystalline order in the stationary state of a continuously driven, open many-body system. Specifically, we consider resonant optical excitations of atoms in a one-dimensional lattice to the Rydberg states interacting via the van der Waals potential. Strong blockade of excitations at neighboring lattice sites steers the system toward a crystalline state while competing with the fluctuations associated with relaxation. We analyze the stationary state of the many-body system and the dynamics of its buildup employing numerically exact time-dependent density-matrix renormalization-group simulations for two- and three-level excitation schemes. We also present an approximate rate equation model which provides qualitative conditions for attaining crystalline order.

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  • Received 21 August 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.87.023401

©2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Michael Höning1,*, Dominik Muth1, David Petrosyan2, and Michael Fleischhauer1

  • 1Fachbereich Physik und Forschungszentrum OPTIMAS, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
  • 2Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, FORTH, GR-71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

  • *hoening@rhrk.uni-kl.de

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Vol. 87, Iss. 2 — February 2013

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