Molecular influence on nuclear-quadrupole-coupling effects in laser induced alignment.

We computationally studied the effect of nuclear-quadrupole interactions on the field-free impulsive alignment of different asymmetric-top molecules. Our analysis is focused on the influence of the hyperfine- and rotational-energy-level structures. These depend on the number of nuclear spins, the rotational constants, and the symmetry of the tensors involved in the nuclear spin and external field interactions.

Equilibria and dynamics of two coupled chains of interacting dipoles.

We explore the energy transfer dynamics in an array of two chains of identical rigid interacting dipoles. Varying the distance b between the two chains of the array, a crossover between two different ground-state (GS) equilibrium configurations is observed. Linearizing around the GS configurations, we verify that interactions up to third nearest neighbors should be accounted to accurately describe the resulting dynamics.

Full control of the orientation of non-symmetric molecules using weak and moderate electric fields.

We investigate the full control over the orientation of a planar non-symmetric molecule by using moderate and weak electric fields. Quantum optimal control techniques allow us to orient any axis of 6-chloropyridazine-3-carbonitrile, which is taken as prototype example here, along the electric field direction. We perform a detailed analysis by exploring the impact on the molecular orientation of the time scale and strength of the control field.

Observation of Rydberg Blockade Due to the Charge-Dipole Interaction between an Atom and a Polar Molecule.

We demonstrate Rydberg blockade due to the charge-dipole interaction between a single Rb atom and a single RbCs molecule confined in optical tweezers. The molecule is formed by magnetoassociation of a Rb+Cs atom pair and subsequently transferred to the rovibrational ground state with an efficiency of 91(1)%. Species-specific tweezers are used to control the separation between the atom and molecule.

Chaos and thermalization in a classical chain of dipoles.

We explore the connection between chaos, thermalization, and ergodicity in a linear chain of N interacting dipoles. Starting from the ground state, and considering chains of different numbers of dipoles, we introduce single site excitations with excess energy ΔK. The time evolution of the chaoticity of the system and the energy localization along the chain is analyzed by computing, up to a very long time, the statistical average of the finite-time Lyapunov exponent λ(t) and the participation ratio Π(t).