Loss rates for high-$n$, $49\lesssim n\lesssim 150$, 5sns(${}^3$S${}_1$) Rydberg atoms excited in an ${}^{84}$Sr Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract

Measurements of the loss rates for strontium n${}^3$S${}_1$ Rydberg atoms excited in a dense BEC are presented for values of principal quantum number $n$ in the range $49\lesssim n\lesssim 150$ and local atom densities of $\sim 1$ to $3\times 10^{14}$cm${}^{-3}$. Two main processes contribute to loss, associative ionization and state-changing. The relative importance of these two loss channels is investigated and their $n$- and density-dependences are discussed using a model in which Rydberg atom loss is presumed to involve a close collision between the Rydberg core ion and ground-state atoms. The present measurements are compared to earlier results obtained using rubidium Rydberg atoms. For both species the observed loss rates are sizable, $\sim 10^5-10^6$s${}^{-1}$, and limit the time scales over which measurements involving Rydberg atoms immersed in quantum degenerate gases can be conducted.

8 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Ultracold atom-electron interaction: from two to many-body physics
• Controlling Rydberg atom excitations in dense background gases
• Lifetimes of ultralong-range strontium Rydberg molecules in a dense BEC
• Creation of vibrationally-excited ultralong-range Rydberg molecules in polarized and unpolarized cold gases of ${}^{87}$Sr

Cited by in corpus (5)

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• Tayloring Bose-Einstein condensate environments for a Rydberg impurity
• Imaging the interface of a qubit and its quantum-many-body environment
• Error-budgeting for a controlled-phase gate with strontium-88 Rydberg atoms