Browsing by Author "Leonhardt, K."

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    Exciton induced directed motion of unconstrained atoms in an ultracold gas
    (Institute of Physics Publishing, 2017) Leonhardt, K.; Wüster, Sebastian; Rost, Jan Michael
    We demonstrate that through localised Rydberg excitation in a three-dimensional cold atom cloud atomic motion can be rendered directed and nearly confined to a plane, without spatial constraints for the motion of individual atoms. This enables creation and observation of non-adiabatic electronic Rydberg dynamics in atoms accelerated by dipole-dipole interactions under natural conditions. Using the full l = 0, 1 m = 0, ±1 angular momentum state space, our simulations show that conical intersection crossings are clearly evident, both in atomic position information and excited state spectra of the Rydberg system. Hence, flexible Rydberg aggregates suggest themselves for probing quantum chemical effects in experiments on length scales much inflated as compared to a standard molecular situation. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.
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    Orthogonal flexible Rydberg aggregates
    (American Physical Society, 2016) Leonhardt, K.; Wüster, S.; Rost, J. M.
    We study the link between atomic motion and exciton transport in flexible Rydberg aggregates, assemblies of highly excited light alkali-metal atoms, for which motion due to dipole-dipole interaction becomes relevant. In two one-dimensional atom chains crossing at a right angle adiabatic exciton transport is affected by a conical intersection of excitonic energy surfaces, which induces controllable nonadiabatic effects. A joint exciton-motion pulse that is initially governed by a single energy surface is coherently split into two modes after crossing the intersection. The modes induce strongly different atomic motion, leading to clear signatures of nonadiabatic effects in atomic density profiles. We have shown how this scenario can be exploited as an exciton switch, controlling direction and coherence properties of the joint pulse on the second of the chains [K. Leonhardt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 223001 (2014)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.113.223001]. In this article we discuss the underlying complex dynamics in detail, characterize the switch, and derive our isotropic interaction model from a realistic anisotropic one with the addition of a magnetic bias field.