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Abstract:
Inevitably present in many current experiments with ultracold Rydberg atoms, dissipative
effects such as dephasing and decay modify the dynamics of the examined system. In
this thesis, the dynamics of many-body Rydberg systems in the incoherent regime is
studied numerically. Specifically, a wave function Monte Carlo (MCWF) technique is
integrated into a coherent two-level many-body Rydberg model, allowing a numerical
simulation of dissipative dynamics. This model is used to benchmark a steady-state rate
equation model and assess its range of validity. In addition, incoherent, off-resonant
excitation dynamics is studied in a one-dimensional disordered geometry. We find that
our simulation results can essentially be explained by the equilibration time scale as well
as — for positive laser detuning — resonant excitations arising when the laser detuning
compensates the Rydberg interaction. Eventually, we employ a rate equation model to
investigate excitation spectra for an experimental trap geometry, which we benchmark
using the MCWF technique. Based on numerical data, we deduce that in the considered
parameter regime the dominant excitation mechanism can be characterized as sequential
growth of aggregates of Rydberg excitations around an initial seed. Our simulation results
highlight the impact of incoherent effects on observables such as Rydberg population,
excitation number fluctuation and pair correlation function.