Dynamical preparation of laser-excited anisotropic Rydberg crystals in 2D optical lattices

Abstract

We describe the dynamical preparation of anisotropic crystalline phases obtained by laser-exciting ultracold Alkali atoms to Rydberg p-states where they interact via anisotropic van der Waals interactions. We develop a time-dependent variational mean field ansatz to model large, but finite two-dimensional systems in experimentally accessible parameter regimes, and we present numerical simulations to illustrate the dynamical formation of anisotropic Rydberg crystals.

Keywords

• Rydberg atoms
• driven Rydberg gas
• anisotropic interactions
• dynamical crystallization
• dynamical state preparation
• 32.80.Ee