,
Detecting and imaging single Rydberg electrons in a Bose-Einstein condensate
(27.02.2014)
Аннотация
The quantum mechanical states of electrons in atoms and molecules are
discrete spatial orbitals, which are fundamental for our understanding of
atoms, molecules, and solids. They determine a wide range of basic atomic
properties, ranging from the coupling to external fields to the whole field of
chemistry. Nevertheless, the manifestation of electron orbitals in experiments
so far has been rather indirect. In a detailed theoretical model, we analyze
the impact of a single Rydberg electron onto a Bose-Einstein condensate and
compare the results to experimental data. Based on this validated model we
propose a method to optically image the shape of single electron orbitals using
electron-phonon coupling in a Bose-Einstein condensate. This scheme requires
only established and readily available experimental techniques and allows to
directly capture textbook-like spatial images of single electronic orbitals in
a single shot experiment.
