Intrashell dynamics of Rydberg atoms: core effects

Abstract

The evolution of Rydberg states of Li in time-dependent fields was studied with special emphasis on the influence of the Li(1s2)+ core. The strengths and rates-of-change of the fields were such that the dynamics involves states of only a single shell (intrashell dynamics). For sufficiently slow variations, the Rydberg states are transformed adiabatically but for faster variations, intrashell transitions do occur. We present experimental approximate probabilities for adiabatic transformation of the Rydberg states and compare with theoretical predictions with and without core effects included. The core can perturb the dynamics significantly. Circumstances under which this is likely to be the case are discussed.

Unidentified transitions in one-photon intrashell dynamics in Rydberg atoms

“…This stands in clear contrast with the experimental data which clearly shows that transitions have occurred. As a matter of fact, we find this disagreement very surprising, as in our previous studies on intrashell dynamics in Li, the model was always capable of explaining the experimental results [11,[13][14][15][16].…”

“…The formation of CESs in external fields was described in [2,3,8]. Intrashell dynamics of the Stark-Zeeman split n = 25 shell in Li was studied extensively over the last 10 years [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Suppression of multiphoton intrashell resonances in Li Rydberg atoms

“…This makes it possible to distinguish states of |m| < 2 from states of |m| > 2. This division of the states into two groups separated by |m| = 2 is based on detailed calculations [28], and is supported by experiment [25,29].…”

Symmetry and symmetry breaking in Rydberg-atom intrashell dynamics

“…The intrashell dynamics of a hydrogenic system, perturbed by static and slowly varying electromagnetic fields, is extremely simple and highly regular [4], but becomes complex when the dynamical symmetry is broken [14][15][16], and the corresponding classical dynamics may even be chaotic [17]. The dynamics of Rydberg atoms in time-dependent fields can mimic the dynamics of atomic collisions [18], e.g., laser-assisted collisions at a specific impact parameter [19,20].…”