Quantum dynamics of a circular Rydberg state in a microwave field

Abstract
We present the first complete quantum treatment of the ionization of a circular Rydberg state by a linearily polarized microwave field. Experimentally accessible ionization threshold fields as well as the dynamics of the resonance eigenfunctions are investigated, together with a comparison to the behavior of a quasi-one-dimensional state subject to a microwave, and of a circular state in an intense, high frequency laser field.