Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics
Calculated spontaneous emission and blackbody-induced transition rates for rubidium Rydberg F states
M Luo, J. D. D. Martin
Abstract
Abstract We calculate the radiative transition rates of Rb nF Rydberg states due to both spontaneous emission and blackbody radiation (BBR), covering principal quantum numbers from n = 4 to n = 65, at temperatures of 0, 77, 300, and 520 K. The contribution of BBR-induced transitions to the total bound-to-bound transition rate is 24.6 % for the 21 F 7 / 2 state at T = 520 K , indicating the contribution of BBR may have been underestimated in a previous study by Gounand et al (1980 J. Phys. France 41 119). We checked our calculation procedure for consistency with available theoretical and experimental data for the nS , nP , and nD series of Rb.