Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:quant-ph/9802027 · Physical Review A

Spontaneous emission of nondispersive Rydberg wave packets

Dominique Delande, Jakub Zakrzewski

Published Jul 1, 1998• 29 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Nondispersive electronic Rydberg wave packets may be created in atoms illuminated by a microwave field of circular polarization. We discuss the spontaneous emission from such states, and show that the elastic incoherent component (occurring at the frequency of the driving field) dominates the spectrum in the semiclassical limit, contrary to earlier predictions. We calculate the frequencies of single-photon emissions and the associated rates in the ``harmonic approximation,'' i.e., when the wave packet has approximately a Gaussian shape. The results agree well with exact quantum-mechanical calculations, which validates the analytical approach.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.58.466

Related papers

Nondispersing Bohr Wave Packets

H. Maeda, J. H. Gurian, Thomas F. Gallagher

Long-lived, nondispersing circular, or Bohr, wave packets are produced starting from Li Rydberg atoms by exposing them first to a linearly polarized microwave field at the orbital frequency, 17.6 GHz at principal quantum number n=72, which locks the electron's motion into an approximately linear orbit in which the electron oscillates in phase with the microwave field. The microwave polarization is changed to circular polarization slowly compared to the orbital frequency, and the electron's motion follows, resulting in a nondispersing Bohr wave packet.

Physical Review Letters•Mar 9, 2009•25 citations

報文

貴洋 西口, 愛子 高峰, 純 東出 +2 more

We have observed nondispersing wave packets which are excited in Li Rydberg atoms.The wave packets are driven by a weak, linearly polarized microwave pulse, frequency of which is near resonant to one of Rydberg transitions in Li atoms with the principal quantum number n ranging from 71 to 80.These wave packets are found to be survived even in a non-resonant microwave ˆeld, intensity of which is comparable to that of the driving microwave ˆeld.

Journal of the Spectroscopical Society of Japan•Jan 1, 2012•0 citations

Nondispersing Wave Packets

H. Maeda, Thomas F. Gallagher

We have formed nondispersing wave packets from atomic Li Rydberg eigenstates by adding a small microwave field approximately resonant with the Deltan=1 transition. The orbital motion of the Rydberg electron in states of 70<or=n<or=78 becomes phase locked to a 17.5 GHz microwave field and remains so for 900 ns, roughly 15 000 orbits of the Rydberg electron. A Floquet approach provides a reasonable quantum-mechanical description.

Physical Review Letters•Apr 1, 2004•75 citations

NONDISPERSING BOHR WAVE PACKETS USING CIRCULARLY POLARIZED MICROWAVE FIELDS

H. Maeda, J. H. Gurian, Thomas F. Gallagher

It is possible to make nondispersing Bohr wave packets in a straightforward way starting from Li Rydberg atoms in an np eigenstate[2]. These atoms are first exposed to a linearly polarized microwave field at the orbital frequency, 17.6GHz at n = 72. The linearly polarized field phase locks the electron wave packet to the microwave phase, making a nondispersing wave packet in which the electron oscillates in a highly eccentric, approximately linear orbit. We detect the phase locked motion of the electron with a 1/2ps half-cycle pulse synchronized with the microwave field. Slowly changing the microwave polarization from linear to circular polarization creates a nondispersing Bohr wave packet that survives for thousands of orbits.

Bulletin of the American Physical Society•May 21, 2009•0 citations

A Wave Packet Can Be a Stationary State

Dominique Delande, Jakub Zakrzewski, Andreas Buchleitner

We establish the existence of strongly localized wave packets tracing without dispersion the classical dynamics of a Rydberg electron in a circularly polarized microwave field over up to 10 6 periods of the driving field, which at the same time are single eigenstates of the atom dressed by the microwave field. These “single-state wave packets” are shown to be robust towards small changes of the external field and can be prepared experimentally.

Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Oct 10, 1995•41 citations

Nonspreading Electronic Wave Packets and Conductance Fluctuations

Jakub Zakrzewski, Dominique Delande, Andreas Buchleitner

We find strongly localized wave packets tracing without dispersion the classical dynamics of a Rydberg electron in a circularly polarized microwave field using a full 3D quantum calculation. These wave packets are single eigenstates of the atom dressed by the microwave field and are very stable against ionization. Their widths fluctuate with microwave amplitude and/or frequency realizing an optical analog of the conductance fluctuations in mesoscopic systems. Similar behavior is observed for linear microwave polarization. We show that such behavior is expected when classical nonlinear resonances are important in an atomic system.

Physical Review Letters•Nov 27, 1995•43 citations
Nondispersive electronic Rydberg wave packets may be created in atoms illuminated by a microwave field of circular polarization. We discuss the spontaneous emission from such states, and show that the elastic incoherent component (occurring at the frequency of the driving field) dominates the spectrum in the semiclassical limit, contrary to earlier predictions. We calculate the frequencies of single-photon emissions and the associated rates in the ``harmonic approximation,'' i.e., when the wave packet has approximately a Gaussian shape. The results agree well with exact quantum-mechanical calculations, which validates the analytical approach.
Long-lived, nondispersing circular, or Bohr, wave packets are produced starting from Li Rydberg atoms by exposing them first to a linearly polarized microwave field at the orbital frequency, 17.6 GHz at principal quantum number n=72, which locks the electron's motion into an approximately linear orbit in which the electron oscillates in phase with the microwave field. The microwave polarization is changed to circular polarization slowly compared to the orbital frequency, and the electron's motion follows, resulting in a nondispersing Bohr wave packet.
It is possible to make nondispersing Bohr wave packets in a straightforward way starting from Li Rydberg atoms in an np eigenstate[2]. These atoms are first exposed to a linearly polarized microwave field at the orbital frequency, 17.6GHz at n = 72. The linearly polarized field phase locks the electron wave packet to the microwave phase, making a nondispersing wave packet in which the electron oscillates in a highly eccentric, approximately linear orbit. We detect the phase locked motion of the electron with a 1/2ps half-cycle pulse synchronized with the microwave field. Slowly changing the microwave polarization from linear to circular polarization creates a nondispersing Bohr wave packet that survives for thousands of orbits.
We find strongly localized wave packets tracing without dispersion the classical dynamics of a Rydberg electron in a circularly polarized microwave field using a full 3D quantum calculation. These wave packets are single eigenstates of the atom dressed by the microwave field and are very stable against ionization. Their widths fluctuate with microwave amplitude and/or frequency realizing an optical analog of the conductance fluctuations in mesoscopic systems. Similar behavior is observed for linear microwave polarization. We show that such behavior is expected when classical nonlinear resonances are important in an atomic system.