Long Range, Ultracold Rydberg Atom Molecules and Rydberg Atom Interactions: Physics seminar

Lecture/Seminar - Natural Sciences | January 25 | 10:30-11:45 a.m. | Classroom Building, COB 267

Location:  5200 North Lake Rd, Merced, CA 95343

Speaker: Dr. James P. Shaffer, Professor of Physics, University of Oklahoma

Sponsor: Physics-Chemistry

Physics Professor James P. Shaffer from the University of Oklahoma offers a lecture entitiled "Long Range, Ultracold Rydberg Atom Molecules and Rydberg Atom Interactions."

Ultracold Rydberg gases are a promising system for exploring many ideas in the area of quantum computation, quantum optics, novel states of matter and many body physics. A key to understanding ultracold Rydberg gases and making progress in these exciting directions is to understand how Rydberg atoms interact with other atoms.

The lecture will review the understanding of Rydberg interactions, including the effect of external fields. Shaffer will focus on describing interactions that lead to two types of novel molecule formation - so-called trilobite molecules and macrodimers. Recent observations of trilobite molecules in an ultracold Cs gas show these molecules possess dipole moments in excess of 30 Debye. In previous work, researchers detected electric field tunable Cs macrodimer molecules.

This talk will compare and contrast these exotic forms of matter as well as try to place their study in the context of understanding Rydberg atom interactions quantitatively.

Event Contact: Professor Jay Sharping, Professor of physics, University of California, Merced, jsharping@ucmerced.edu, 209-228-4049