Localization of Floquet states in the rf excitation of Rydberg atoms

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Abstract
We study the Floquet states which determine the response of Rydberg atoms to an external rf field. We discuss the recently observed transition from narrow to broad states and show that the expansion amplitudes of the bound-space–projected Floquet states on high-n bound states of the unperturbed atom decay as a power of n. Therefore, even the broad states are marginally localizable. We also derive an expression for the critical value of n where the transition between narrow and broad states occurs and use this relation to interpret recent measurements of rf ionization of high-n states in hydrogen.