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Nonlocal spatial correlations in an interacting atomic gas

C. Wang1,2,*, A. Li1, Y. Lu1, S. K. Kanungo1, S. Yoshida3, F. B. Dunning1,2, and T. C. Killian1,2

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005-1892, USA
  • 2Smalley-Curl Institute, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005-1892, USA
  • 3Institute for Theoretical Physics, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), A-1040 Vienna, Austria, European Union

  • *Contact author: chuanyu.wang@rice.edu
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Phys. Rev. A 113, 022803 – Published 5 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/2q22-grqy

Abstract

We report in situ measurements of the nonlocal two-body spatial correlation function g(2)(R) in an ultracold Bose gas with strong interactions using photoassociation of ultra-long-range Rydberg molecules (ULRRMs) as a spatially selective probe. This technique provides access to g(2)(R) on length scales from 60 to 180 nm, bridging the gap between short-range and long-range correlation measurements. The large s-wave scattering length of Sr86 (a=811a0) enables exploration of the universal regime where g(2)(R) is governed solely by two-body interactions. Comparison with a weakly interacting isotope, Sr84, highlights interaction-induced suppression of pair correlations. The measured correlation functions agree quantitatively with ab initio calculations based on the two-body reduced density matrix, without adjustable parameters. Our results establish Rydberg molecular photoassociation as a powerful tool for probing nonlocal correlations in situ in strongly interacting quantum gases.

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Phys. Rev. A 113, 022803– Published 5 February, 2026
  • Received 21 October 2025
  • Accepted 13 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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