Mainz 2017 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 42: Quantum Effects
Q 42.6: Talk
Thursday, March 9, 2017, 12:15–12:30, P 4
Intrinsic quantum chaos in the complex atomic system of protactinium — •Pascal Naubereit1, Victor Flambaum2,3, Dominik Studer1, Anna Viatkina2, and Klaus Wendt1 — 1Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55128 Mainz, Germany — 2Helmholtz Institute Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany — 3School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Quantum chaos, initially experienced in scattering resonances of nuclei, today is a widely discussed phenomenon observed in various complex quantum systems. In this talk we discuss the occurrence and experimental investigation of intrinsic quantum chaos within the highly complex atomic system of protactinium, as expressed in the arrangement of levels. The resulting repulsion of individual states can be traced back to chaotic mixing of a very large number of single electron states, which arise from the five easily excitable electrons within up to four different open valence shells. In order to analyze a reasonable fraction of energy levels of given parity and angular momentum, the highly complex spectrum of the protactinium atom was probed experimentally in different ranges of excitation energy by using multi-step laser resonance ionization spectroscopy. Together with the available literature data we can reproduce a complete overview of excited states of the protactinium atom from ground state up to energies above the first ionization potential. By investigation of the most pronounced indicator, the repulsion of states, we derive how intrinsic quantum chaos in this system evolves with energy and emphasize its significance already at moderate excitation energy.