Long-range Cs Rydberg molecules

We present calculations of high-lying cold long-range Cs Rydberg molecules. We show bound molecular states at large interatomic distances of up to $\sim$5 microns, entirely due to avoided crossings of the Van der Waals pair-interaction potentials. These wells were found in the full set of long- range multipole Rydberg-Rydberg pair interaction potential curves calculated by our group via matrix diagonalization. The well-depths are enhanced by the application of a small (mV) background electric field. Corresponding bound state wavefunctions are analyzed. Methods to excite and observe these long-lived ($\tau >\mu$s) molecular states will be discussed. Experimental progress toward observing these novel molecular states will also be presented.