Closed Orbit Bifurcations in Continuum Stark Spectra
Abstract
We report an experimental and theoretical study of the effect of bifurcations of closed classical orbits in continuum Stark spectra. Our findings provide a natural way to understand how the spectrum evolves from a simple sinusoidal modulation at positive energy to a quasidiscrete spectrum below the classical ionization limit. The experiment employs scaled-energy spectroscopy of lithium. The results provide the first experimental confirmation of a formulation of closed-orbit theory that provides a quantitative description of the behavior of the spectrum at a bifurcation.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- February 1995
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.1538
- Bibcode:
- 1995PhRvL..74.1538C
- Keywords:
-
- 32.60.+i;
- 03.65.Sq;
- 32.80.Fb;
- Zeeman and Stark effects;
- Semiclassical theories and applications;
- Photoionization of atoms and ions