Dissipative Dynamics in Many-Body Rydberg Systems

Inevitably present in many current experiments with ultracold Rydberg atoms, dissipative effects such as dephasing and decay modify the dynamics of the examined system. In this thesis, the dynamics of many-body Rydberg systems in the incoherent regime is studied numerically. Specifically, a wave function Monte Carlo (MCWF) technique is integrated into a coherent two-level many-body Rydberg model, allowing a numerical simulation of dissipative dynamics. This model is used to benchmark a steady-state rate equation model and assess its range of validity. In addition, incoherent, off-resonant excitation dynamics is studied in a one-dimensional disordered geometry. We find that our simulation results can essentially be explained by the equilibration time scale as well as — for positive laser detuning — resonant excitations arising when the laser detuning compensates the Rydberg interaction. Eventually, we employ a rate equation model to investigate excitation spectra for an experimental trap geometry, which we benchmark using the MCWF technique. Based on numerical data, we deduce that in the considered parameter regime the dominant excitation mechanism can be characterized as sequential growth of aggregates of Rydberg excitations around an initial seed. Our simulation results highlight the impact of incoherent effects on observables such as Rydberg population, excitation number fluctuation and pair correlation function