Three-body F\"orster resonance of a new type in Rydberg atoms

Abstract

The three-body F\"orster resonances ${\rm 3}\times nP_{3/2} \to nS_{1/2} +(n+1)S_{1/2} +nP_{3/2}^{*} $ controlled by a dc electric field were realized earlier by the authors in an ensemble of several cold Rydberg Rb atoms. One of the drawbacks of such resonances for potential application in three-qubit quantum gates is the proximity of the two-body F\"orster resonance ${\rm 2}\times nP_{3/2} \to nS_{1/2} +(n+1)S_{1/2}, $ as well as the possibility of their implementation only for states with values of the principal quantum numbers $n\le 38$. In this paper we propose and analyze a three-body resonance of a new type ${\rm 3}\times nP_{3/2} \to nS_{1/2} +(n+1)S_{1/2} +nP_{1/2} , $ which can be realized for arbitrary $n$. Its specific feature is also that the third atom transits into a state with a different total angular moment $J=1/2$, which has no Stark structure, so that the two-body resonance is completely absent. Numerical calculations showed that for not too strong interaction, it is possible to observe coherent three-body oscillation of the populations of collective states, which is of interest for developing new schemes of three-qubit quantum gates controlled by an electric field.