Nonequilibrium Phase Transition in a Dilute Rydberg Ensemble
Nonequilibrium Phase Transition in a Dilute Rydberg Ensemble
We demonstrate a nonequilibrium phase transition in a dilute thermal atomic gas. The phase transition, between states of low and high Rydberg occupancy, is induced by resonant dipole-dipole interactions between Rydberg atoms. The gas can be considered as dilute as the atoms are separated by distances much greater than the …