Nonhydrogenic effects in the deceleration of Rydberg atoms in inhomogeneous electric fields

Argon atoms in Stark states at n ≈ 25 have been decelerated and accelerated in inhomogeneous electric fields. The acceleration and deceleration behavior can be understood only by considering the adiabatic Landau-Zener dynamics that take place at the avoided crossings between the Stark states and the limited fluorescence lifetimes of ~ 10 μs.Citation: Vliegen, E. et al. (2004). 'Nonhydrogenic effects in the deceleration of Rydberg atoms in inhomogeneous electric fields', Physical Review Letters, 92(3), 033005. [Available at http://prl.aps.org/]