Observations of the collapse and fractional revival of a Rydberg wavepacket in atomic rubidium

Meacher, D. R.; Meyler, P. E.; Hughes, I.; Ewart, Paul

doi:10.1088/0953-4075/24/3/005

Cited by 79 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Parker and Stroud (28) were the first to find evidence for this behavior in numerical studies of Rydberg atoms, while Yeazell and Stroud (30), (31) and others (32), (33) soon confirmed their predictions experimentally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Quantum wave packet revivals

2004

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The numerical prediction, theoretical analysis, and experimental verification of the phenomenon of wave packet revivals in quantum systems has flourished over the last decade and a half. Quantum revivals are characterized by initially localized quantum states which have a short-term, quasi-classical time evolution, which then can spread significantly over several orbits, only to reform later in the form of a quantum revival in which the spreading reverses itself, the wave packet relocalizes, and the semi-classical periodicity is once again evident. Relocalization of the initial wave packet into a number of smaller copies of the initial packet ('minipackets' or 'clones') is also possible, giving rise to fractional revivals. Systems exhibiting such behavior are a fundamental realization of time-dependent interference phenomena for bound states with quantized energies in quantum mechanics and are therefore of wide interest in the physics and chemistry communities.We review the theoretical machinery of quantum wave packet construction leading to the existence of revivals and fractional revivals, in systems with one (or more) quantum number(s), as well as discussing how information on the classical period and revival time is encoded in the energy eigenvalue spectrum. We discuss a number of one-dimensional model systems which exhibit revival behavior, including the infinite well, the quantum bouncer, and others, as well as several two-dimensional integrable quantum billiard systems. Finally, we briefly review the experimental evidence for wave packet revivals in atomic, molecular, and other systems, and related revival phenomena in condensed matter and optical systems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Quantum wave packet revivals

2004

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“…Since the atomic potential is only approximately harmonic, the radial wave packet oscillates classically for only a limited period of time. The complex dynamics of atomic electron wave packets have been described in detail by several authors [17][18][19][20].…”

Section: The Institute Of Optics University Of Rochester Rochestermentioning

confidence: 99%

Excitation of an Atomic Electron to a Coherent Superposition of Macroscopically Distinct States

1996

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“…Experiments [27][28][29]37 have studied the revival structure of Rydberg wave packets through times ϳt rev . These experiments use a pump-probe method of detection involving either photoionization 26 or phase-sensitive Ramsey interference and electric-field ionization.…”

Section: Atomic Rydberg Wave Packetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Edge-magnetoplasmon wave-packet revivals in the quantum-Hall effect

et al. 1997

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The quantum-Hall effect is necessarily accompanied by low-energy excitations localized at the edge of a two-dimensional electron system. For the case of electrons interacting via the long-range Coulomb interaction, these excitations are edge magnetoplasmons. We address the time evolution of localized edge-magnetoplasmon wave packets. On short times the wave packets move along the edge with classical E cross B drift. We show that on longer times the wave packets can have properties similar to those of the Rydberg wave packets that are produced in atoms using short-pulsed lasers. In particular, we show that edge-magnetoplasmon wave packets can exhibit periodic revivals in which a dispersed wave packet reassembles into a localized one. We propose the study of edge-magnetoplasmon wave packets as a tool to investigate dynamical properties of integer and fractional quantum-Hall edges. Various scenarios are discussed for preparing the initial wave packet and for detecting it at a later time. We comment on the importance of magnetoplasmon-phonon coupling and on quantum and thermal fluctuations. ͓S0163-1829͑97͒07716-3͔

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Observations of the collapse and fractional revival of a Rydberg wavepacket in atomic rubidium

Cited by 79 publications

References 19 publications

Quantum wave packet revivals

Quantum wave packet revivals

Excitation of an Atomic Electron to a Coherent Superposition of Macroscopically Distinct States

Edge-magnetoplasmon wave-packet revivals in the quantum-Hall effect

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