Charged and neutral long-range Rydberg molecules: Internal structure and wave packet dynamics

在第一个资助期内，由于实验没有如预期的那样进行，研究计划不得不进行调整。然而，研究困难的原因已经证明是富有成效的。在即将到来的资助期内，两类涉及里德伯原子的分子将被研究。第一种是由里德伯原子和基态原子组成的分子。到目前为止，这些都已经得到了很好的研究，但申请人有能力在一个尚未探索的制度下研究它们，仍然有非常有趣的问题需要回答。第二类是新预测的由里德伯原子与带正电的离子相互吸引而形成的分子。该项目的结果可能在超冷分子、簇和化学领域产生影响，因为它有望展示一种新的结合机制并研究相关过程。申请人是一位非常有名的实验学家，他显然能够领导计划好的工作。工作计划令人信服。

During the first funding period, the research plan had to be adapted because the experiments did not work as anticipated. However, studying the reasons for the difficulties already proved to be fruitful. In the upcoming funding period, two classes of molecules involving Rydberg atoms are to be investigated. The first are molecules consisting of a Rydberg atom and a ground-state atom. These are quite well-studied by now but the applicant has the capability to study them in a regime that has not been explored yet and there are still very interesting question to be answered. The second class are newly predicted molecules formed due to the attraction of a Rydberg atom to a positively charged ion. The project’s results can have an impact in the domain of ultracold molecules, clusters and chemistry, as it promises to demonstrate a novel binding mechanism and to study the relevant processes.The applicant is a very well known experimentalist who can clearly lead the planned effort. The work plan is convincing.