Comment on “Measurement of the lifetimes of S and D states below n=31 using cold Rydberg gas”
Duncan Tate
A recent paper by [Nascimento et al., Phys. Rev. A 74, 054501 (2006)], and a previous paper from the same group [de Oliveira et al., Phys. Rev. A 65 031401(R) (2002)], report measurements of Rydberg lifetimes in rubidium in the range $27\ensuremath{\le}n\ensuremath{\le}44$. In this Comment, we point out one apparent flaw of experimental technique in these papers that may lead to systematic errors in the results. We also clarify a point of theoretical interpretation used in these papers which suggests that the agreement between experiment and theory may not be as good as it seems.
Physical Review A•Jun 29, 2007•8 citations