Autoionizing Rydberg wave packets

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Abstract
In this paper we present some of the general features of autoionizing Rydberg wave packets. We assume the wave packets are generated by a short, perturbative laser pulse that excites the electronic wave function to a coherent distribution of final state energies in the autoionizing regime. We describe a possible experiment for generating and detecting these autoionizing wave packets. A physical effect we call ‘‘cresting of a wave packet’’ is described. Several calculations for Ba are presented. The cresting of the ejected wave packets should be observable for this atom. Several other effects may also be of interest: the suppression of particular wave packets, the angular distribution associated with a wave packet, different decay rates in different directions, and the systematic variation of angular distribution with the delay time. © 1996 The American Physical Society.