Frequency evolution of radiatively assisted collisions of K Rydberg atoms

Ramsey interference fringes are observed in the line shape of resonant Rydberg-atom--Rydberg-atom collisions occurring in the presence of a radiation field of frequency comparable to the inverse of the collision time. At low frequencies the fringes are phase dependent, but at high frequencies they are not. We present a theoretical interpretation based on a quasistatic field description which connects the low- and high-frequency regimes. In the high-frequency regime, this model gives results equivalent to those obtained using a ''dressed-atom'' approach