Abstract
We introduce the Rydberg Composite, a new class of Rydberg matter where a single Rydberg atom is interfaced with a dense environment of neutral ground state atoms. The properties of the Composite depend on both the Rydberg excitation, which provides the gross energetic and spatial scales, and on the distribution of ground state atoms within the volume of the Rydberg wave function, which sculpt the electronic states. The latter range from the "trilobites", for small numbers of scatterers, to delocalized and chaotic eigenstates for disordered scatterer arrays, culminating in the dense scatterer limit in symmetry-dominated wave functions which promise good control in future experiments. We characterize these scenarios with different theoretical methods, enabling us to obtain scaling behavior for the regular spectrum and measures of chaos and delocalization in the disordered regime. Thus, we obtain a systematic description of the Composite states. The 2D monolayer Composite possesses the richest spectrum with an intricate band structure in the limit of homogeneous scatterers.
Highlights
Ultralong-range molecules composed of a Rydberg atom and a ground state atom, colloquially known as trilobites, were proposed in 2000 [1]
In a second step, guided by the features seen in these density of states (DOS), we study the wave functions corresponding to various paradigmatic states
We present a representative sample of the wave functions giving rise to these DOS in 1D and 2D, which are amenable to this treatment since all relevant information can be gleaned and visualized with threedimensional contour plots (1D) or the z 1⁄4 0 slice through the electron density (2D)
Summary
Ultralong-range molecules composed of a Rydberg atom and a ground state atom, colloquially known as trilobites, were proposed in 2000 [1]. The present investigation opens a new venue for Rydberg composite systems along this way, which involve many thousands of atoms in a structured environment coupled to a single Rydberg atom These composites can be formed by exciting a Rydberg atom within a one-, two-, or threedimensional optical lattice such that the electronic wave function envelops many atoms on the surrounding sites, but can be created in other settings involving randomly positioned scatterers within a geometrically confined volume. Potential surfaces, rovibrational couplings, etc., [2,19]—to a condensed matter one, emphasizing generic scaling principles, gross structure, and properties associated with the high density of states obtained here This allows us to approach systematically dense atomic environments. We briefly discuss how quantum dots can give rise to similar composite structures They further elucidate the dense scatterer limit, offer additional possibilities to create a composite experimentally, and underline the generality of the excitation composite idea beyond Rydberg composites.
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