Spin squeezing of atoms by Rydberg blockade

Abstract

We show that the interaction between Rydberg atomic states can provide continuous spin squeezing of atoms with two ground states. The interaction prevents the simultaneous excitation of more than a single atom in the sample to the Rydberg state, and we propose to utilize this blockade effect to realize an effective collective spin hamiltonian J_x^2-J_y^2. With this hamiltonian the quantum mechanical uncertainty of the spin variable J_x+J_y can be reduced significantly.