Two-dimensional three-body quadrupole–quadrupole interactions

The interactions between dipoles are called dipole–dipole interactions. One type of dipole–dipole interaction is van der Waals interaction. Similar to van der Waals interactions, the interactions between quadrupoles are called quadrupole–quadrupole interactions. Atoms can be treated not only as dipoles but also as quadrupoles. In this article, we study the quadrupole interactions between highly excited atoms or Rydberg atoms. In addition, unlike many other calculations, in which the primary focus was on the one-dimensional two-body quadrupole–quadrupole interactions, the primary aim of this article is to study the two-dimensional few-body quadrupole–quadrupole interactions. Specifically, the two-dimensional three-body interactions are investigated. This research has many applications, such as quadrupole-blockade for quantum computing, creating molecules based on quadrupole interactions, or quadrupole–quadrupole molecules. (paper)