Rabi oscillations and entanglement between two atoms interacting by the Rydberg blockade and with a quantized radiation field studied by the Jaynes-Cummings Model

Abstract: The interaction between atoms and a quantized radiation field is fundamentally important in quantum optics and quantum information science. Due to their unusual properties, Rydberg atoms are promising building blocks for two-qubit gates and atom-light quantum interfaces, exploiting the Rydberg blockade interaction which prevents two atoms at close distance from being simultaneously excited to Rydberg states. Recently, this effect was used to engineer quantum processors based on arrays of interacting Rydberg atoms illuminated by Raman lasers. Motivated by these experiments, we extend the Jaynes-Cummings model to study the interaction between two Rydberg atoms interacting by the Rydberg blockade and a quantized radiation field. We find a rich variety of Rabi oscillations and entanglement between the atoms and the radiation field as a function of initial conditions and interaction time, which may be used to obtain atom-light quantum interfaces as components for future long-distance quantum communication.