Abstract
We study an optical cavity coupled to a lattice of Rydberg atoms, which can be represented by a generalized Dicke model. We show that the competition between the atom-atom interaction and atom-light coupling induces a rich phase diagram. A novel superradiant solid (SRS) phase is found, where both the superradiance and crystalline orders coexist. Different from the normal second order superradiance transition, here both the solid- and SRS to SR phase transitions are first order. These results are confirmed by large scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations.
- Received 6 December 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.090402
© 2013 American Physical Society