Adiabatic potentials of cesium ( <i>nD</i> _<i>J</i> ) ₂ Rydberg–Rydberg macrodimers

Abstract

Abstract Electrostatic multipole interactions generate long-range Rydberg–Rydberg macrodimers. We calculate the adiabatic potentials of cesium <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mfenced close=")" open="("> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="italic">nD</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>J</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:mfenced> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> Rydberg macrodimers for principal quantum numbers n ranging from 56 to 62, for J = 3/2 and 5/2, and for the allowed values of the conserved sum of the atomic angular-momentum components along the internuclear axis, M . For most combinations ( n , M , J ) exactly one binding potential exists, which should give rise to Rydberg macrodimer states. We study the dependence of the adiabatic potentials on the size of the two-body basis sets used in the calculation, and on the maximal order, q max , of the multipole terms included in the calculation. We determine the binding energies and lengths of the binding adiabatic potentials, investigate their scaling behaviors as a function of the effective principal quantum number, and discuss vibrational-state wave functions. We consider the applicability of the calculated potentials and excitation rates to an experimental scheme for preparing <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mfenced close=")" open="("> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="italic">nD</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>J</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:mfenced> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> Rydberg-atom macrodimers using two-color double-resonant photoassociation.