Observation of s-p Coupling in Ultralong-Range Rydberg Molecules
Abstract
Ultralong-range Rydberg molecules, formed by the interaction between a highly excited Rydberg atom and a ground-state atom, provide a unique platform for exploring quantum phenomena spanning nanometer- to micrometer distances as well as exotic few-body interactions. The molecular binding arises from electron-atom scattering, which is conventionally described by an independent s- and p-wave channels picture. Here we report the experimental observation of s-p coupling in Rb(nS)-Rb(5S) ultralong-range Rydberg molecules via high-resolution photoassociation spectroscopy. By varying the principal quantum number n from 31 to 36, we resolve an avoided crossing between the s- and p-wave molecular states: whenever a vibrational level bound by the p-wave well approaches one bound by the s-wave well in energy, the two states are mixed by the off-diagonal coupling U_sp, and the shifted s-wave level is identified, which is consistent with theoretical predictions. This mixing is most pronounced for low-node p-wave molecules, whose binding energies lie closer to those of the s-wave molecules. The resulting level repulsion and redistribution of spectral intensity reveal the mixed s-p character of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules and provide a more precise molecular spectroscopy.
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BibTeX
@misc{li2026observation,
title = {{Observation of s-p Coupling in Ultralong-Range Rydberg Molecules}},
author = {Qing Li and Shi-Yao Shao and Jun Zhang and Han-Chao Chen and Li-Hua Zhang and Bang Liu and Guang-Can Guo and Dong-Sheng Ding and Bao-Sen Shi},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.09950},
eprint = {2608.09950},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09950},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Observation of s-p Coupling in Ultralong-Range Rydberg Molecules
AU - Qing Li
AU - Shi-Yao Shao
AU - Jun Zhang
AU - Han-Chao Chen
AU - Li-Hua Zhang
AU - Bang Liu
AU - Guang-Can Guo
AU - Dong-Sheng Ding
AU - Bao-Sen Shi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.09950
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09950
AB - Ultralong-range Rydberg molecules, formed by the interaction between a highly excited Rydberg atom and a ground-state atom, provide a unique platform for exploring quantum phenomena spanning nanometer- to micrometer distances as well as exotic few-body interactions. The molecular binding arises from electron-atom scattering, which is conventionally described by an independent s- and p-wave channels picture. Here we report the experimental observation of s-p coupling in Rb(nS)-Rb(5S) ultralong-range Rydberg molecules via high-resolution photoassociation spectroscopy. By varying the principal quantum number n from 31 to 36, we resolve an avoided crossing between the s- and p-wave molecular states: whenever a vibrational level bound by the p-wave well approaches one bound by the s-wave well in energy, the two states are mixed by the off-diagonal coupling U_sp, and the shifted s-wave level is identified, which is consistent with theoretical predictions. This mixing is most pronounced for low-node p-wave molecules, whose binding energies lie closer to those of the s-wave molecules. The resulting level repulsion and redistribution of spectral intensity reveal the mixed s-p character of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules and provide a more precise molecular spectroscopy.
ER -