Abstract
We study the dynamics of Rydberg ions trapped in a linear Paul trap, and discuss the properties of ionic Rydberg states in the presence of the static and time-dependent electric fields constituting the trap. The interactions in a system of many ions are investigated and coupled equations of the internal electronic states and the external oscillator modes of a linear ion chain are derived. We show that strong dipole–dipole interactions among the ions can be achieved by microwave dressing fields. Using low-angular momentum states with large quantum defect, the internal dynamics can be mapped onto an effective spin model of a pair of dressed Rydberg states that describes the dynamics of Rydberg excitations in the ion crystal. We demonstrate that excitation transfer through the ion chain can be achieved on a nanosecond timescale and discuss the implementation of a fast two-qubit gate in the ion chain.
Highlights
Rydberg states correspond to the infinite series of excited bound states in a Coulomb potential with large principal quantum number n
As an illustration of the spin dynamics contained in Hamiltonian (36), we study the transfer of an excitation from one side of the Rydberg ion chain to the other end
In this paper we have shown that trapping of Rydberg ions in a linear electric ion trap under realistic conditions is feasible
Summary
Rydberg states correspond to the infinite series of excited bound states in a Coulomb potential with large principal quantum number n. Rydberg atoms have been proposed to serve as model systems for studying coherent transport of excitations [9] - a mechanism which is of great importance for coherent energy transfer in biological systems, e.g. in light-harvesting complexes [10, 11] While these investigations have so far concentrated on neutral atoms, we are interested below in describing the properties of laser excited Rydberg ions stored in a Paul trap, in particular the interplay between trapping fields and Rydberg excitations, and the associated manybody interactions in a chain of cold trapped Rydberg ions. The character of a Rydberg ion as a composite object gives rise to an intrinsic coupling of electronic and external motion in the presence of the electric trapping fields This will be shown to result in renormalized trapping frequencies for Rydberg ions compared to their ground state counterparts. We illustrate the quantum dynamics of the system by studying resonant excitation transfer and present the fast two-qubit gate scheme
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