Two-Stage Melting in Systems of Strongly Interacting Rydberg Atoms

Abstract

We analyze the ground state properties of a one-dimensional cold atomic system in a lattice, where Rydberg excitations are created by an external laser drive. In the classical limit, the ground state is characterized by a complete devil's staircase for the commensurate solid structures of Rydberg excitations. Using perturbation theory and a mapping onto an effective low energy Hamiltonian, we find a transition of these commensurate solids into a floating solid with algebraic correlations. For stronger quantum fluctuations the floating solid eventually melts within a second quantum phase transition and the ground state becomes paramagnetic.

4 pages, 3 figures

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• Stimulated adiabatic passage in a dissipative Rydberg superatom
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• Structured Chaos in a Devil's Staircase of the Josephson Junction
• Probing the interaction between Rydberg-dressed atoms through interference
• Non-adiabatic preparation of spin crystals with ultracold polar molecules
• Quantum Phases from Competing Van der Waals and Dipole-Dipole Interactions of Rydberg Atoms
• Supersolid phases of ultracold bosons trapped in optical lattices dressed with Rydberg $p$-states
• Rydberg crystallization detection by statistical means
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• Universal time-evolution of a Rydberg lattice gas with perfect blockade
• Superradiance-induced multistability in driven Rydberg lattice gases
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• Non-classical correlations in a class of spin chains with long-range interactions and exactly solvable ground states
• Lattice Defects in Rydberg Atom Arrays
• Finite-temperature Rydberg arrays: quantum phases and entanglement characterization
• Spin-glass quantum phase transition in amorphous arrays of Rydberg atoms
• Topological floating phase of dipolar bosons in an optical ladder
• Distinct many-body scars and emergent quantum phases driven by competing interactions in two-species Rydberg arrays