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Observation of Resonant Monopole-Dipole Energy Transfer between Rydberg Atoms and Polar Molecules

J. Zou1, R. R. W. Wang2,3,*, R. González-Férez4, H. R. Sadeghpour2, and S. D. Hogan1,†

  • *Contact author: reuben.wang@cfa.harvard.edu
  • †Contact author: s.hogan@ucl.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 113402 – Published 20 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k9d5-1jcc

Abstract

Resonant energy transfer (RET) between the equal parity 1s65s S13 and 1s66s S13 Rydberg levels in helium has been observed in low-temperature (∼80  mK) collisions with ammonia molecules that undergo inversion transitions in their X A11 ground electronic state. This hybrid Rydberg-atom–polar-molecule resonant energy transfer represents a monopole-dipole energy exchange reaction that necessarily requires spatial overlap of the Rydberg-electron and molecular wave functions. Calculations that account explicitly for the charge-dipole interaction between the Rydberg electron and the molecule provide a quantitative explanation of the observations. Total parity is conserved in the reaction through the mixing of collisional angular momentum in the atom-molecule complex. This work opens opportunities to expand the toolbox for quantum science with charge-dipole-mediated energy exchange in hybrid atom–polar-molecule platforms.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 113402– Published 20 March, 2026
  • Received 25 September 2025
  • Accepted 12 February 2026
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