Phys.org  February 21, 2022 To push spatial boundaries researchers at Rice University developed a technique to engineer the Rydberg states of ultracold strontium atoms by applying resonant microwave electric fields to couple many states together, making the levels look like particles that just move around between locations in space. Rydberg atoms possess many regularly spaced quantum energy levels, which can be coupled by microwaves that allow the highly excited electron to move from level to level. They demonstrated their techniques by making a 1D lattice using lasers to cool strontium atoms and applied microwaves with alternating weak and strong couplings […]