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Next generation tritium decay experiments to determine the absolute neutrino mass require high-precision measurements of β-decay electron energies close to the kinematic end point. To achieve this, the development of high phase-space density sources of atomic tritium is required, along with the implementation of methods to control the motion of these atoms to allow extended observation times. A promising approach to efficiently and accurately measure the kinetic energies of individual β-decay electrons generated in these dilute atomic gases, is to determine the frequency of the cyclotron radiation they emit in a precisely characterised magnetic field. This cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy technique can benefit from recent developments in quantum technologies. Absolute static-field magnetometry and electrometry, which is essential for the precise determination of the electron kinetic energies from the frequency of their emitted cyclotron radiation, can be performed using atoms in superpositions of circular Rydberg states. Quantum-limited microwave amplifiers will allow precise cyclotron frequency measurements to be made with maximal signal-to-noise ratios and minimal observation times. Exploiting the opportunities offered by quantum technologies in these key areas, represents the core activity of the Quantum Technologies for Neutrino Mass project. Its goal is to develop a new experimental apparatus that can enable a determination of the absolute neutrino mass with a sensitivity on the order of 10meV/c2.

XUV fluorescence spectroscopy provides information on energy absorption and dissipation processes taking place in the interaction of helium clusters with intense femtosecond laser pulses. The present experimental results complement the physical picture derived from previous electron and ion spectroscopic studies of the generated helium nanoplasma. Here, the broadband XUV fluorescence emission from high-lying Rydberg states that covers the spectral region from 6 p → 1 s at 53.0 eV all the way to photon energies corresponding to the ionization potential of He + ions at 54.4 eV is observed directly. The cluster size-dependent population of these states in the expanding nanoplasma follows the well-known bottleneck model. The results support previous findings and highlight the important role of Rydberg states in the energetics and dynamics of laser-generated nanoplasma.

We develop a formalism for photoionization (PI) and potential energy curves (PECs) of Rydberg atoms in ponderomotive optical lattices and apply it to examples covering several regimes of the optical-lattice depth. The effect of lattice-induced PI on Rydberg-atom lifetime ranges from noticeable to highly dominant when compared with natural decay. The PI behavior is governed by the generally rapid decrease of the PI cross sections as a function of angular-momentum ( ℓ ), lattice-induced ℓ -mixing across the optical-lattice PECs, and interference of PI transition amplitudes from the lattice-mixed into free-electron states. In GHz-deep lattices, ℓ -mixing leads to a rich PEC structure, and the significant low- ℓ PI cross sections are distributed over many lattice-mixed Rydberg states. In lattices less than several tens-of-MHz deep, atoms on low- ℓ PECs are essentially ℓ -mixing-free and maintain large PI rates, while atoms on high- ℓ PECs trend towards being PI-free. Characterization of PI in GHz-deep Rydberg-atom lattices may be beneficial for optical control and quantum-state manipulation of Rydberg atoms, while data on PI in shallower lattices are potentially useful in high-precision spectroscopy and quantum-computing applications of lattice-confined Rydberg atoms.

High-resolution, in situ imaging of Rydberg atoms in a Mott insulator reveals the emergence of spatially ordered excitation patterns with random orientation but well-defined geometry. Ordered structures in quantum matter The realization of long-range interactions in ultracold atomic gases would open up a new realm of many-body physics. Rydberg atoms are highly suited to this goal because of their strong van der Waals forces. This experiment reports high resolution, in situ imaging of Rydberg atoms and direct measurement of their strong correlations. The observations reveal the emergence of spatially ordered excitation patterns with random orientation but well-defined geometry. This work demonstrates the potential of Rydberg gases to realize exotic phases of matter, thereby laying the basis for quantum simulations of long-range interacting quantum magnets. The ability to control and tune interactions in ultracold atomic gases has paved the way for the realization of new phases of matter. So far, experiments have achieved a high degree of control over short-range interactions, but the realization of long-range interactions has become a central focus of research because it would open up a new realm of many-body physics. Rydberg atoms are highly suited to this goal because the van der Waals forces between them are many orders of magnitude larger than those between ground-state atoms 1 . Consequently, mere laser excitation of ultracold gases can cause strongly correlated many-body states to emerge directly when atoms are transferred to Rydberg states. A key example is a quantum crystal composed of coherent superpositions of different, spatially ordered configurations of collective excitations 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 . Here we use high-resolution, in situ Rydberg atom imaging to measure directly strong correlations in a laser-excited, two-dimensional atomic Mott insulator 6 . The observations reveal the emergence of spatially ordered excitation patterns with random orientation, but well-defined geometry, in the high-density components of the prepared many-body state. Together with a time-resolved analysis, this supports the description of the system in terms of a correlated quantum state of collective excitations delocalized throughout the gas. Our experiment demonstrates the potential of Rydberg gases to realize exotic phases of matter, thereby laying the basis for quantum simulations of quantum magnets with long-range interactions.

Highly excited Rydberg atoms have many exaggerated properties. In particular, the interaction strength between such atoms can be varied over an enormous range. In a mesoscopic ensemble, such strong, long-range interactions can be used for fast preparation of desired many-particle states. We generated Rydberg excitations in an ultra-cold atomic gas and subsequently converted them into light. As the principal quantum number n was increased beyond ~ 70, no more than a single excitation was retrieved from the entire mesoscopic ensemble of atoms. These results hold promise for studies of dynamics and disorder in many-body systems with tunable interactions and for scalable quantum information networks.

Multiphoton resonant excitation and frustrated tunneling ionization, manifesting the photonic and optical nature of the driving light via direct excitation and electron recapture, respectively, are complementary mechanisms to access Rydberg state excitation (RSE) of atoms and molecules in an intense laser field. However, clear identification and manipulation of their individual contributions in the light-induced RSE process remain experimentally challenging. Here, we bridge this gap by exploring the dissociative and nondissociative RSE of H2 molecules using bicircular two-color laser pulses. Depending on the relative field strength and polarization helicity of the two colors, the RSE probability can be boosted by more than one order of magnitude by exploiting the laser waveform-dependent field effect. The role of the photon effect is readily strengthened with increasing relative strength of the second-harmonic field of the two colors regardless of the polarization helicity. As compared to the nondissociative RSE forming H2  *  , the field effect in producing the dissociative RSE channel of   (  H  +    ,  H  *    )   is moderately suppressed, which is primarily accessed via a three-step sequential process separated by molecular bond stretching. Our work paves the way toward a comprehensive understanding of the interplay of the underlying field and photon effects in the strong-field RSE process, as well as facilitating the generation of Rydberg states optimized with tailored characteristics.

Alkaline-earth-like (AEL) atoms with two valence electrons and a nonzero nuclear spin can be excited to Rydberg state for quantum computing. Typical AEL ground states possess no hyperfine splitting, but unfortunately a GHz-scale splitting seems necessary for Rydberg excitation. Though strong magnetic fields can induce a GHz-scale splitting, weak fields are desirable to avoid noise in experiments. Here, we provide two solutions to this outstanding challenge with realistic data of well-studied AEL isotopes. In the first theory, the two nuclear spin qubit states |0〉 and |1〉 are excited to Rydberg states | r〉 with detuning Δ and 0, respectively, where a MHz-scale detuning Δ arises from a weak magnetic field on the order of 1 G. With a proper ratio between Δ and Ω, the qubit state |1〉 can be fully excited to the Rydberg state while |0〉 remains there. In the second theory, we show that by choosing appropriate intermediate states a two-photon Rydberg excitation can proceed with only one nuclear spin qubit state. The second theory is applicable whatever the magnitude of the magnetic field is. These theories bring a versatile means for quantum computation by combining the broad applicability of Rydberg blockade and the incomparable advantages of nuclear-spin quantum memory in two-electron neutral atoms.

A strategy for the design of molecules with large two-photon absorption cross sections, δ, was developed, on the basis of the concept that symmetric charge transfer, from the ends of a conjugated system to the middle, or vice versa, upon excitation is correlated to enhanced values of δ. Synthesized bis(styryl)benzene derivatives with donor-π-donor, donor-acceptor-donor, and acceptor-donor-acceptor structural motifs exhibit exceptionally large values of δ, up to about 400 times that of trans-stilbene. Quantum chemical calculations performed on these molecules indicate that substantial symmetric charge redistribution occurs upon excitation and provide δ values in good agreement with experimental values. The combination of large δ and high fluorescence quantum yield or triplet yield exhibited by molecules developed here offers potential for unprecedented brightness in two-photon fluorescent imaging or enhanced photosensitivity in two-photon sensitization, respectively.

High harmonic emission occurs when an electron, liberated from a molecule by an incident intense laser field, gains energy from the field and recombines with the parent molecular ion. The emission provides a snapshot of the structure and dynamics of the recombining system, encoded in the amplitudes, phases and polarization of the harmonic light. Here we show with CO 2 molecules that high harmonic interferometry can retrieve this structural and dynamic information: by measuring the phases and amplitudes of the harmonic emission, we reveal ‘fingerprints’ of multiple molecular orbitals participating in the process and decode the underlying attosecond multi-electron dynamics, including the dynamics of electron rearrangement upon ionization. These findings establish high harmonic interferometry as an effective approach to resolving multi-electron dynamics with sub-Ångström spatial resolution arising from the de Broglie wavelength of the recombining electron, and attosecond temporal resolution arising from the timescale of the recombination event. Electronic movies: attosecond sight The high harmonic emission that accompanies the recombination of an electron with its parent molecular ion in an intense laser field provides a snapshot of the structure and dynamics of the recombining system. Experiments with CO 2 molecules now show that high harmonic interferometry can retrieve this structural and dynamic information by measuring the phases and amplitudes of the harmonic emission. The resulting 'fingerprints' of the multiple molecular orbitals participating in the process can be used to decode the underlying attosecond multi-electron dynamics, including the dynamics of electron rearrangement upon ionization. The light emitted from the system contains images of moving electrons that can be processed into a movie. These findings establish high harmonic interferometry as an effective approach to resolving multi-electron dynamics with sub-Ångström spatial resolution arising from the de-Broglie wavelength of the recombining electron, and attosecond temporal resolution arising from the timescale of the recombination event. The high harmonic emission that accompanies the recombination of an electron with its parent molecular ion in an intense laser field provides a snapshot of the structure and dynamics of the recombining system. Experiments on CO 2 molecules now show how to extract information from the properties of the emitted light about the underlying multi-electron dynamics with sub-Ångström spatial resolution and attosecond temporal resolution

Atoms interacting with intense laser fields can emit electrons and photons of very high energies. An intuitive and quantitative explanation of these highly nonlinear processes can be found in terms of a generalization of classical Newtonian particle trajectories, the so-called quantum orbits. Very few quantum orbits are necessary to reproduce the experimental results. These orbits are clearly identified, thus opening the way for an efficient control as well as previously unknown applications of these processes.