  Recent developments in the study of ultracold Rydberg gases demand an
advanced level of experimental sophistication, in which high atomic and optical
densities must be combined with excellent control of external fields and
sensitive Rydberg atom detection. We describe a tailored experimental system
used to produce and study Rydberg-interacting atoms excited from dense
ultracold atomic gases. The experiment has been optimized for fast duty cycles
using a high flux cold atom source and a three beam optical dipole trap. The
latter enables tuning of the atomic density and temperature over several orders
of magnitude, all the way to the Bose-Einstein condensation transition. An
electrode structure surrounding the atoms allows for precise control over
electric fields and single-particle sensitive field ionization detection of
Rydberg atoms. We review two experiments which highlight the influence of
strong Rydberg--Rydberg interactions on different many-body systems. First, the
Rydberg blockade effect is used to pre-structure an atomic gas prior to its
spontaneous evolution into an ultracold plasma. Second, hybrid states of
photons and atoms called dark-state polaritons are studied. By looking at the
statistical distribution of Rydberg excited atoms we reveal correlations
between dark-state polaritons. These experiments will ultimately provide a
deeper understanding of many-body phenomena in strongly-interacting regimes,
including the study of strongly-coupled plasmas and interfaces between atoms
and light at the quantum level.
