Coherence and decay of Rydberg wave Packets
Abstract
Calculations are presented that show the response of an atom to a picosecond laser pulse which resonantly excites a manifold of Rydberg states. The coherent atomic state that is produced is of the form of a spatially localized wave packet. The motion, decay, and reformation of the wave packet are described and related to the complicated quantum beat pattern that appears in the subsequent spontaneous decay.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- February 1986
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.56.716
- Bibcode:
- 1986PhRvL..56..716P
- Keywords:
-
- Atomic Excitations;
- Picosecond Pulses;
- Quantum Mechanics;
- Rydberg Series;
- Ultrashort Pulsed Lasers;
- Wave Packets;
- Bandwidth;
- Coulomb Potential;
- Decay;
- Heisenberg Theory;
- Taylor Series;
- Atomic and Molecular Physics;
- 31.60.+b;
- 32.80.-t;
- Photon interactions with atoms