Mean-field approach to Rydberg facilitation in a gas of atoms at high and low temperatures (B2)

Daniel Brady, Michael Fleischhauer:  

Phys. Rev. A 108, 052812 (2023)

🔓 arXiv:2308.14408 (2023)

The excitation spread caused by Rydberg facilitation in a gas of laser driven atoms is an interesting model system for studying epidemic dynamics. We derive a mean-field approach to describe this facilitation process in the limits of high and low temperatures, which takes into account Rydberg blockade and the network character of excitation spreading in a low-temperature gas. As opposed to previous mean-field models, our approach accurately predicts all stages of the facilitation dynamics from the initial fast epidemic growth, an extended saturation period, to the final relaxation phase.