Non-adiabatic couplings as a stabilization mechanism in long-range Rydberg molecules

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Hauptverfasser: Durst, Aileen A. T., Simić, Milena, Abraham, Neethu, Eiles, Matthew T.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Durst, Aileen A. T.
Simić, Milena
Abraham, Neethu
Eiles, Matthew T.
author_facet Durst, Aileen A. T.
Simić, Milena
Abraham, Neethu
Eiles, Matthew T.
contents Long-range Rydberg molecules are typically bound in wells formed in their oscillatory potential energy curves. In alkaline Rydberg molecules, bound vibrational states exist even when these potential wells are disrupted by level repulsion from the steep butterfly potential energy curve induced by a scattering shape resonance. The binding in this case is attributed to quantum reflection. However, the rapidly varying regions of the potential energy landscape where quantum reflection occurs often coincide with regions where non-adiabatic coupling becomes significant. By comparing the molecular states calculated within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, where quantum reflection is the only binding mechanism, with those obtained from the full set of coupled channel equations, we can assess the effects of non-adiabatic coupling on vibrational energies and lifetimes. Our findings show that these couplings can stabilize the molecule by providing an additional barrier which protects the vibrational states from predissociation and non-radiative transitions. There can also be extreme cases where non-adiabatic coupling completely dominates the binding and the molecular lifetimes saturate at the atomic Rydberg lifetime.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_14919
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Non-adiabatic couplings as a stabilization mechanism in long-range Rydberg molecules
Durst, Aileen A. T.
Simić, Milena
Abraham, Neethu
Eiles, Matthew T.
Atomic Physics
Chemical Physics
Quantum Physics
Long-range Rydberg molecules are typically bound in wells formed in their oscillatory potential energy curves. In alkaline Rydberg molecules, bound vibrational states exist even when these potential wells are disrupted by level repulsion from the steep butterfly potential energy curve induced by a scattering shape resonance. The binding in this case is attributed to quantum reflection. However, the rapidly varying regions of the potential energy landscape where quantum reflection occurs often coincide with regions where non-adiabatic coupling becomes significant. By comparing the molecular states calculated within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, where quantum reflection is the only binding mechanism, with those obtained from the full set of coupled channel equations, we can assess the effects of non-adiabatic coupling on vibrational energies and lifetimes. Our findings show that these couplings can stabilize the molecule by providing an additional barrier which protects the vibrational states from predissociation and non-radiative transitions. There can also be extreme cases where non-adiabatic coupling completely dominates the binding and the molecular lifetimes saturate at the atomic Rydberg lifetime.
title Non-adiabatic couplings as a stabilization mechanism in long-range Rydberg molecules
topic Atomic Physics
Chemical Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.14919