Fractal dynamics in the ionization of helium Rydberg atoms

We study the ionization of helium Rydberg atoms in an electric field above the classical ionization threshold within the semiclassical theory.By introducing a fractal approach to describe the chaotic dynamical behavior of the ionization,we identify the fractal self-similarity structure of the escape time versus the distribution of the initial launch angles of electrons,and find that the self-similarity region shifts toward larger initial launch angles with a decrease in the scaled energy.We connect the fractal structure of the escape time plot to the escape dynamics of ionized electrons.Of particular note is that the fractal dimensions are sensitively controlled by the scaled energy and magnetic field,and exhibit excellent agreement with the chaotic extent of the ionization systems for both helium and hydrogen Rydberg atoms.It is shown that,besides the electric and magnetic fields,core scattering is a primary factor in the fractal dynamics.     

The fractal structure in the Rydberg lithium atoms in ionization dynamics of a static electric field

The ionization rate of Rydberg lithium atoms in a static electric field is examined within semiclassical theory which involves scattering effects off the core. By semiclassical analysis, this ionization process can be considered as the promoted valence electrons escaping through the Stark saddle point into the ionization channels. The resulting escape spectrum of the ejected electrons demonstrates a remarkable irregular electron pulse train in time-dependence and a complicated nesting structure with respect to the initial launching angles. Based on the Poincaré} map and homoclinic tangle approach, the chaotic behaviour along with its corresponding fractal self-similar structure of the ionization spectra are analysed in detail. Our work is significant for understanding the quantum-classical correspondence.     

The fractal structure in the ionization dynamics of Rydberg lithium atoms in a static electric field

The ionization rate of Rydberg lithium atoms in a static electric field is examined within semiclassical theory which involves scattering effects off the core. By semiclassical analysis, this ionization process can be considered as the promoted valence electrons escaping through the Stark saddle point into the ionization channels. The resulting escape spectrum of the ejected electrons demonstrates a remarkable irregular electron pulse train in time-dependence and a complicated nesting structure with respect to the initial launching angles. Based on the Poincaré} map and homoclinic tangle approach, the chaotic behaviour along with its corresponding fractal self-similar structure of the ionization spectra are analysed in detail. Our work is significant for understanding the quantum-classical correspondence.     

Electric dipole moments of lithium atoms in Rydberg states

Recently, the diverse properties of Rydberg atoms, which probably arise from its large electric dipole moment(EDM),have been explored. In this paper, we report electric dipole moments along with Stark energies and charge densities of lithium Rydberg states in the presence of electric fields, calculated by matrix diagonalization. Huge electric dipole moments are discovered. In order to check the validity of the EDMs, we also use these electric dipole moments to calculate the Stark energies by numerical integration. The results agree with those calculated by matrix diagonalization.     

Asymmetry in the strong-field ionization of Rydberg atoms by few-cycle pulses

We present measurements of the electron ejection direction in the ionization of high (n=90) Rydberg states of rubidium subjected to few-cycle radio-frequency (RF) pulses. For weak pulses we find a strong asymmetry for even (cosine) pulses and no asymmetry for odd (sine) pulses. This asymmetry disappears for pulses longer than four RF cycles. For strong pulses, very large asymmetry is found for both sine and cosine pulses that persists up to eight RF cycles and is attributed to initial state depletion effects within a cycle.     

Near-classical noise enhancement of microwave ionization of Rydberg atoms

The ionization of the highly excited hydrogen atom in a strong external microwave field is a classically chaotic, near-classical quantum system for microwave frequencies somewhat below the initial Kepler electron orbit frequency. The addition of microwave noise is found to reduce the sinewave microwave field needed for ionization, modifying the near-classical fast process responsible for the microwave energy absorption. A classical numerical calculation based upon a many-frequency model of the noise qualitatively reproduces the observed noise enhancement.     

Dipole-dipole excitation and ionization in an ultracold gas of Rydberg atoms

In cold dense Rydberg atom samples, the dipole-dipole interaction strength is effectively resonant at the typical interatomic spacing in the sample, and the interaction has a 1/R3 dependence on interatomic spacing R. The dipole-dipole attraction leads to ionizing collisions of initially stationary atoms, which produces hot atoms and ions and initiates the evolution of initially cold samples of neutral Rydberg atoms into plasmas. More generally, the strong dipole-dipole forces lead to motion, which must be considered in proposed applications.     

The Ulam problem and the ionization of Rydberg atoms by microwave radiation

We study the Ulam problem for long times (several million collisions) by numerical methods. We show that in the diffusion regime, which is valid for moderate times, this problem is mathematically equivalent to the problem of the diffusive ionization of atomic Rydberg states by microwave radiation. It is concluded that the diffusion regime sets in only for a very small number of initial conditions (field phases). It is theorized that the analogy between the two problems can be extrapolated to times longer than the diffusion time. We show in the Ulam problem that after the diffusional buildup of energy has finished, the quasistationary regime does not continue indefinitely: after several million particle-wall collisions the energy rapidly drops to zero. On the basis of this extrapolation we examine the possibility that an electron which has reached the continuous spectrum will not fly off to infinity (ionization), but will return to bound Rydberg states of the atoms (if the field acts for a sufficiently long time). This can make the diffusive ionization probability much lower than the value given by the known estimates. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 37–45 (July 1998)     

Controlled suppression of ionization of Rydberg atoms in a microwave field

A computational procedure for controlling the stochastic ionization of one-dimensional single electron Rydberg atoms in the correspondence principle regime is developed. Using our procedure it is possible to suppress excitation and ionization of the one-dimensional Rydberg atom even in strong microwave fields for which ionization would otherwise be instantaneous.     

Demonstration of turnstiles as a chaotic ionization mechanism in Rydberg atoms

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the chaotic ionization of quasi-one-dimensional potassium Rydberg wave packets via a classical phase-space turnstile mechanism. Turnstiles form a general transport mechanism for numerous chaotic systems, and this study explicitly illuminates their relevance to atomic ionization. We create time-dependent Rydberg wave packets, subject them to alternating applied electric-field pulses, and measure the electron survival probability. Ionization depends not only on the initial electron energy, but also on the classical phase-space position of the electron with respect to the turnstile--that part of the electron packet inside the turnstile ionizes after the applied ionization sequence, while that part outside the turnstile does not. The survival data thus encode information on the shape and location of the turnstile, in good agreement with theoretical predictions.     

Laser pulse design for coherent control of Rydberg lithium atoms

<正>Using the time-dependent multilevel approach(TDML),this paper studies the dynamics of coherent control of Rydberg lithium atoms and demonstrates that Rydberg lithium atoms can be transferred to states of higher principal quantum number by exposing them to specially designed frequency-chirped laser pulses.The population transfer from n= 70 to n= 75 states of lithium atoms with efficiency of more than 90%is achieved by means of the sequential adiabatic rapid passages.The results agree well with the experimental ones and show that the coherent control of the population transfer from the lower n to the higher n states can be accomplished by the optimization of the chirping parameters and the intensity of laser field.     

Electron impact ionization of sodium Rydberg atoms below 2 eV

We have observed electron impact ionization of highly excited sodium Rydberg atoms in ns and nd states, n=35-51, below E=2 eV electron kinetic energy with energy resolution 0.25 eV. Measured absolute cross sections near 0 eV range from sigma(35d) approximately 7 x 10(-10) to sigma(50d) approximately 4 x 10(-9) cm(2). The energy dependence is consistent with that of widely used binary encounter approximation cross sections, and sigma(n) follows a power law in n. The measured cross sections are 14 to 24 times larger than theoretically predicted values. This enhancement may signal the effect of large polarizabilities of high Rydberg states not yet accounted for in ionization theories.     

Electron correlation in fast ion-impact single ionization of helium atoms

A four-body distorted-wave approximation is applied for theoretical analysis of the fully differential cross sections(FDCS)for proton-impact single ionization of helium atoms in their ground states.The nine-dimensional integrals for the partial amplitudes are analytically reduced to closed-form expressions or some one-dimensional integrals which can be easily calculated numerically.Calculations are performed in the scattering and perpendicular planes.The influence of the target static electron correlations on the process is investigated using a number of different bound-state wave functions for the ground state of the helium targets.An illustrative computation is performed for 75-ke V proton–helium collisions and the obtained results are compared with experimental data and other theoretical predictions.Although for small momentum transfers,the comparison shows a reasonable agreement with experiments in the scattering and perpendicular planes,some significant discrepancies are still present at large momentum transfers in these planes.However,our results are compatible and for some cases,better than those of the other sophisticated calculations.