Strongly correlated few-body states of Rydberg polaritons (A08)

• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 277625399

Engineered interaction between individual photons in a quantum nonlinear optical medium and its interplay with dissipation enable the control of light photon by photon and the creation of non-classical states of light on demand. In this project, we investigate strongly interacting Rydberg polaritons in an ultracold Ytterbium gas, where a strong and highly tunable effective interaction between individual photons is mediated via Rydberg-Rydberg interaction between single atoms. In this extreme limit of nonlinear optics, optical photons turn into a strongly correlated quantum few- to many-body open system with exquisite control over both coherent and dissipative properties.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 185: Open System Control of Atomic and Photonic Matter (OSCAR)
• Applicant Institution: Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau
• Project Head: Professor Sebastian Hofferberth, Ph.D.