Quasiclassical calculations of BBR-induced depopulation rates and effective lifetimes of Rydberg nS, nP and nD alkali-metal atoms with n < 80

TL;DR

This paper presents quasiclassical calculations of blackbody radiation-induced depopulation rates and effective lifetimes for alkali-metal Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers up to 80, across various temperatures, providing analytical formulas and validating results against existing data.

Contribution

It introduces simple analytical formulas for estimating lifetimes and depopulation rates of Rydberg states, validated by numerical calculations and comparison with prior data.

Findings

Good agreement with existing theoretical and experimental data

Derived analytical formulas accurately estimate lifetimes and depopulation rates

Applicable for alkali-metal Rydberg states with n < 80 at different temperatures

Abstract

Rates of depopulation by blackbody radiation (BBR) and effective lifetimes of alkali-metal \textit{nS}, \textit{n}P and \textit{nD} Rydberg states have been calculated in a wide range of principal quantum numbers $n \le 80$ at the ambient temperatures of 77, 300 and 600 K. Quasiclassical formulas were used to calculate the radial matrix elements of the dipole transitions from Rydberg states. Good agreement of our numerical results with the available theoretical and experimental data has been found. We have also obtained simple analytical formulas for estimates of effective lifetimes and BBR-induced depopulation rates, which well agree with the numerical data.