Studies Involving Atoms in High Rydberg States

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The experimental research program is a project to continue experiments performed studying the dynamics of extraordinarily high Rydberg states of atoms: those with principal quantum numbers near 400. Electrons in such high Rydberg states have classical Kepler periods that are long enough to allow the application of controlled electric field pulses and sequences of pulses that are shorter than or comparable in duration to the classical Kepler period. The goal of these experiments is to use these high-Rydberg states to study the "kicked atom" which is a model for the study of nonlinear dynamics of Hamiltonian systems. The measurements will take place in a regime where it is expected that quantum localization will become important, which should give insight into classical-quantum correspondence. A second set of experiments is proposed to study how Rydberg atoms interact with surfaces. The main goal is to determine how the internal atomic state evolves as they approach a surface and how that affects charge-transfer dynamics. The broader impacts involve the education of students, impact on studies of nonlinear dynamics near the classical-quantum boundary, and surface characterization.