Premium
The Classical Atom: Stabilization of Electronic Trojan Wavepackets
Author(s) -
Farrelly David,
Lee Ernestine A.,
Uzer T.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
fortschritte der physik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.469
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1521-3978
pISSN - 0015-8208
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3978(200205)50:5/7<636::aid-prop636>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - trojan , physics , bohr model , phase space , magnetic field , wave packet , kepler problem , field (mathematics) , circular orbit , quantum mechanics , classical mechanics , atomic physics , astronomy , mathematics , pure mathematics
This article demonstrates that coherent states in Rydberg atoms can be produced and stabilized by combining a circularly polarized microwave field with a static, perpendicular magnetic field. These electronic wavepackets owe their stability to atomic analogs of the Lagrange equilibria which confine Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. While these “Trojan” wavepackets may slowly decay due to tunneling, a more significant source of dispersion will arise if the tails of the wavepacket penetrate appreciably into the non‐linear or chaotic parts of phase space. In the laboratory frame, if these dispersive factors can be minimized — and this may be accomplished using magnetic fields — the electronic wavepacket will travel along a circular Kepler orbit while remaining localized radially and angularly for a finite — but large — number of Kepler periods. In this sense, the system is a classical Bohr atom.