Work

Anisotropic and Nonadditive Interactions of a Rydberg Impurity in a Quantum Bath

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We present a framework for treating mesoscopic anisotropic and nonadditive impurity-bath interactions, ubiquitous in realistic quantum impurity problems, which are often neglected in conventional approaches relying on additive, spherically symmetric pseudopotentials. To illustrate this general approach, we focus on the specific impurity problem of a Rydberg atom immersed in a Bose-Einstein condensate, where the internal-state degeneracy of the Rydberg impurity gives rise to configuration-dependent nonadditive potentials. With increasing interaction strength, anisotropy-induced partial-wave mixing generates distinct polaron and molaron resonances, allowing for radially and angularly excited bound states to become accessible. This approach captures the anisotropy and nonadditivity characteristic of a Rydberg impurity immersed in a quantum bath, and is broadly applicable to a host of quantum impurity problems beyond the Fröhlich paradigm.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/38vj-6fqc

Authors: Aileen A. T. Durst, Seth T. Rittenhouse, H. R. Sadeghpour, Matthew T. Eiles

Institutions: Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, United States Naval Academy, University of Maryland, College Park, Purdue University West Lafayette

Language: English

Topic: Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,750

Funders: National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Harvard University