Interaction of half-cycle radiation pulse with Rydberg states of atomic hydrogen

Abstract
We describe the results of our solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for Rydberg states of atomic hydrogen exposed to a short pulse of ‘‘half-cycle’’ long-wavelength radiation. By ‘‘short’’ we mean that the duration of the pulse is much less than the Kepler period of the Rydberg state being irradiated. Comparison is made with the results of experiments which have been reported recently [R. Jones, D. You, and P. Bucksbaum, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1236 (1993)].