2018/09/30 by Frederic Hummel, Christian Fey, Peter Schmelcher
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Chemical Physics Studies #Atom (system on chip) #Atomic orbital #Atomic physics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Coupling (piping) #Electron #Field (mathematics) #Ground state #Ion #Ionization #Magnetic field #Materials science #Mathematics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Rydberg atom #Rydberg formula #Rydberg state #physics.atom-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.99.023401
published as Phys. Rev. A 99, 023401 (2019) · 6 pages, 4 figures
openalex created_date 2018/09/27 · arxiv created 2019/02/01 · openalex publication_date 2019/02/01 · arxiv updated 2019/02/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We unravel some peculiar properties of ultra-long-range Rydberg molecules formed by an s-state 87Rb Rydberg atom and a corresponding ground-state atom whose electronic orbitals are spherically symmetric and therefore should not be influenced by the presence of weak magnetic fields. However, the electron-atom interaction, which establishes the molecular bond, is under certain conditions subject to a sizable spin-orbit coupling and, hence, sensitive to the magnetic field. This mechanism can be harnessed to counterintuitively align the s-state molecules with respect to the field axis. We demonstrate this by analyzing the angular-dependent Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces and the supported vibrational molecular states. Our predictions open interesting possibilities for accessing the physics of relativistic electron-atom scattering experimentally.