Demonstration of Turnstiles as a Chaotic Ionization Mechanism in Rydberg Atoms

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how phase-space turnstiles cause chaotic ionization in Rydberg atoms, combining experimental measurements with theoretical analysis to reveal the underlying transport mechanism.

Contribution

It provides the first explicit experimental and theoretical evidence linking phase-space turnstiles to atomic ionization processes in Rydberg atoms.

Findings

Electron survival probability depends on phase-space position.

Turnstile geometry influences ionization outcomes.

Experimental data agrees with theoretical predictions.

Abstract

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the chaotic ionization of quasi-one-dimensional potassium Rydberg wavepackets via a phase-space turnstile mechanism. Turnstiles form a general transport mechanism for numerous chaotic systems, and this study explicitly illuminates their relevance to atomic ionization. We create time-dependent Rydberg wavepackets, subject them to alternating applied electric-field "kicks", and measure the electron survival probability. Ionization depends not only on the initial electron energy, but also on the phase-space position of the electron with respect to the turnstile --- that part of the electron packet inside the turnstile ionizes after the applied ionization sequence, while that part outside the turnstile does not. The survival data thus encode information on the geometry and location of the turnstile, and are in good agreement with theoretical predictions.