Long-Term Evolution and Revival Structure of Rydberg Wave Packets

Abstract

It is known that, after formation, a Rydberg wave packet undergoes a series of collapses and revivals within a time period called the revival time, $t_{\mathrm{rev}}$, at the end of which it is close to its original shape. We study the behavior of Rydberg wave packets on time scales much greater than $t_{\mathrm{rev}}$. We show that after a few revival cycles the wave packet ceases to reform at multiples of the revival time. Instead, a new series of collapses and revivals commences, culminating after a time period $t_{\mathrm{sr}}\gg t_{\mathrm{rev}}$ with the formation of a wave packet that more closely resembles the initial packet than does the full revival at time $t_{\mathrm{rev}}$. Furthermore, at times that are rational fractions of $t_{\mathrm{sr}}$, the square of the autocorrelation function exhibits large peaks with periodicities that can be expressed as fractions of the revival time $t_{\mathrm{rev}}$. These periodicities indicate a new type of fractional revival occurring for times much greater than $t_{\mathrm{rev}}$. A theoretical explanation of these effects is outlined.

published in Phys. Lett. A 200, 308 (1995)

References in corpus (3)

• Quantum Defects and the Long-Term Behavior of Radial Rydberg Wave Packets
• Atomic Supersymmetry, Rydberg Wave Packets, and Radial Squeezed States
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