Two Rydberg-dressed atoms escaping from an open well

Abstract

A comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of two Rydberg-dressed particles (bosons or fermions) tunneling from a potential well into open space is provided. We show that the dominant decay mechanism switches from sequential tunneling to pair tunneling when the interaction strength is tuned below a certain critical value. These critical values can be modified by tuning the effective range of the interaction potential. By comparing the dynamics of bosons and fermions, we show that there are significant differences between the two cases. In particular, increasing the interaction range modifies the tunneling rate in opposite ways for fermions and bosons. Furthermore, for the fermionic system much stronger attractive interactions are needed to achieve pair tunneling. The results provide insight into the dynamics of tunneling systems and, in light of recent realizations of tunneling few-body systems and Rydberg dressing of atoms, they offer promise for future experiments.