Ultralong-range Rydberg molecules with kilo-Debye dipole moments

In recent years, there has been a great deal of theoretical and experimental interest in ultralong-range Rydberg molecules. First proposed over 15 years ago, these molecules form due to repeated scattering of a highly excited Rydberg electron off a ground state neutral atom. They are predicted to be ultralong-range, with inter-nuclear separations on the order of 100 nanometers. When the electron has a high angular momentum, $l>2$, the electron wave function can be highly localized around the ground state atom. These molecules, called ``trilobite'' molecules, are predicted to posses extremely large electric dipole moments, on the order of kilo-Debye. In this talk I will present recent experimental and theoretical work that has resulted in the first realization of Rydberg trilobite molecules with ultra-large permanent electric dipole moments in a cold gas of Cs.\\[4pt] In collaboration with D. Booth, J. Yang, J.P. Shaffer, University of Oklahoma; and H.R. Sadeghpour, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.