Physical Review A
Adiabatic complex-plane calculations of Rydberg-state broadening by Rb and K perturbers
V. M. Borodin, Andrey K. Kazansky, D. B. Khrebtukov, I. I. Fabrikant
Abstract
We use the adiabatic theory in the complex plane of internuclear distance to calculate the Rydberg-state broadening cross sections in the ambient alkali-metal gases. We have found that the imaginary parts of the branch points between the relevant energy curves have an oscillatory structure that is projected into a similar structure in the broadening cross section. The results of the distorted-wave diabatic perturbation theory and the present theory are in excellent agreement for the principal quantum numbers of the Rydberg atoms n30. Unlike the diabatic perturbation theory, the adiabatic approach does not merge with the impulse approximation and fails for higher n.