Hannover 2010 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 23: Poster II

A 23.55: Poster

Thursday, March 11, 2010, 16:30–19:00, Lichthof

The vibrational structure of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules — •Weibin Li, Jovica Stanojevich, Cenap Ates, Thomas Pohl, and Jan-Michael Rost — Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany

Ultralong range Rydberg molecules have been observed by photoassociation spectroscopy recently in cold Rb atomic gases. These weakly bound molecules are formed by low energy scattering of Rydberg electron with ground state atoms, with binding length up to several thousand Bohr for high Rydberg states. A Green's function calculation gives consistent potential curves and is shown to explain most of the observed dimer lines. We reveal a new binding mechanism based on quantum reflection at a shape resonance for electron-atom scattering. Using a simplified model potential we elucidate the role of quantum reflection and the influence of the long-range potential shape onto the properties of the vibrational spectrum.