Extragalactic Rydberg atoms

Charles S. Day

Thomas F. Gallagher

Brenton Knuffman, Georg A. Raithel

Rydberg-Rydberg collisions in a cold, dense Rydberg gas can lead to the conversion of internal energy into center-of-mass energy of the colliding atoms, resulting in Rydberg-atom velocities much larger than the initial velocities in the gas. We prepare cold Rydberg-atom gases by laser excitation of laser-cooled atom clouds and use time-of-flight measurements to demonstrate the production of fast Rydberg atoms. The velocity distributions of Rydberg atoms emerging from the Rydberg-atom gases are obtained. State-selective field ionization spectra indicate a correlation between the production of fast Rydberg atoms and the presence of Penning ionization signatures. The dependence of the yield of fast Rydberg atoms on Rydberg atom density is measured.

Jonathan D. Pritchard

R. F. Stebbings, F. B. Dunning

List of contributors Preface 1. Rydberg atoms in astrophysics A. Dalgarno 2. Theoretical studies of hydrogen Rydberg atoms in electric fields R. J. Damburg and V. V. Kolosov 3. Rydberg atoms in strong fields D. Kleppner, Michael G. Littman and Myron L. Zimmerman 4. Spectroscopy of one- and two-electron Rydberg atoms C. Fabre and S. Haroche 5. Interaction of Rydberg atoms with blackbody radiation T. F. Gallagher 6. Theoretical approaches to low-energy collisions of Rydberg atoms with atoms and ions A. P. Hickman, R. E. Olson and J. Pascale 7. Experimental studies of the interaction of Rydberg atoms with atomic species at thermal energies F. Gounand and J. Berlande 8. Theoretical studies of collisions of Rydberg atoms with molecules Michio Matsuzawa 9. Experimental studies of thermal-energy collisions of Rydberg atoms with molecules F. B. Dunning and R. F. Stebbings 10. High-Rydberg molecules Robert S. Freund 11. Theory of Rydberg collisions with electrons, ions and neutrals M. R. Flannery 12. Experimental studies of the interactions of Rydberg atoms with charged particles J. -F. Delpech 13. Rydberg studies using fast beams Peter M. Koch Index.

Thomas F. Gallagher