Population-resolved measurement of an avoided crossing of light-dressed states

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Schlossberger, Noah, Prajapati, Nikunjkumar, Norrgard, Eric B., Eckel, Stephen P., Holloway, Christopher L.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Schlossberger, Noah
Prajapati, Nikunjkumar
Norrgard, Eric B.
Eckel, Stephen P.
Holloway, Christopher L.
author_facet Schlossberger, Noah
Prajapati, Nikunjkumar
Norrgard, Eric B.
Eckel, Stephen P.
Holloway, Christopher L.
contents A two-level system coupled by a coherent field is a ubiquitous system in atomic and molecular physics. In the rotating wave approximation, the light-dressed states are well described by a simple 2x2 Hamiltonian which can be easily solved analytically and is thus used in quantum mechanics education and as a basis for intuition for more complicated systems. The solution to the Hamiltonian is an avoided crossing between the light-dressed ground and excited states. In experiments, the avoided crossing is probed spectroscopically, meaning only the energies, or eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian, are measured. Here, we present a measurement of the avoided crossing which also resolves population, thus indicating the amplitude coefficients of the eigenvectors of the Hamiltonian. We perform the measurement in Rydberg states of cold rubidium atoms, resolving the energies spectroscopically with our pump lasers and the populations of each state using selective field ionization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_11275
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Population-resolved measurement of an avoided crossing of light-dressed states
Schlossberger, Noah
Prajapati, Nikunjkumar
Norrgard, Eric B.
Eckel, Stephen P.
Holloway, Christopher L.
Atomic Physics
A two-level system coupled by a coherent field is a ubiquitous system in atomic and molecular physics. In the rotating wave approximation, the light-dressed states are well described by a simple 2x2 Hamiltonian which can be easily solved analytically and is thus used in quantum mechanics education and as a basis for intuition for more complicated systems. The solution to the Hamiltonian is an avoided crossing between the light-dressed ground and excited states. In experiments, the avoided crossing is probed spectroscopically, meaning only the energies, or eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian, are measured. Here, we present a measurement of the avoided crossing which also resolves population, thus indicating the amplitude coefficients of the eigenvectors of the Hamiltonian. We perform the measurement in Rydberg states of cold rubidium atoms, resolving the energies spectroscopically with our pump lasers and the populations of each state using selective field ionization.
title Population-resolved measurement of an avoided crossing of light-dressed states
topic Atomic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.11275