Angular dependence of the dipole-dipole interaction in a magneto-optical

trap

Thomas Carroll, M. J. Lim, Anne Goodsell, Katharine Claringbould, Michael

W. Noel

Atoms in an ultracold highly-excited sample are strongly coupled through

the dipole-dipole interaction. In an effort to understand and manipulate

the complicated many-body interactions in this system we are investigating

their dependence on the relative orientation of the dipoles. By focusing a

480 nm beam from a tunable dye laser into a magneto-optical trap (MOT), we

produce a nearly one dimensional sample of Rydberg atoms. The MOT lies at

the center of a configuration of four conducting rods with which we can

vary the magnitude and direction of the electric field at the MOT, thus

controlling the relative orientation of the dipoles. We have measured the

strength of the interaction for a variety of

relative orientations.