Control of atomic Rydberg states using guided electrons

TL;DR

This paper proposes a simple model demonstrating how a moving guided electron can control Rydberg states in alkali atoms, with potential applications in quantum state manipulation and many-body systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scheme for controlling Rydberg states using guided electrons and analyzes its experimental feasibility.

Findings

Final atomic states depend on electron momentum.

Identifies accessible parameter regimes for control.

Discusses potential for many-body state manipulation.

Abstract

We present and analyze a simple model to illustrate the possibility of Rydberg state control by means of a moving guided electron. Specifically, we consider alkali metal atoms whose valence electron is initially prepared in a Rydberg s-state and investigate state changes induced by the interaction with the nearby passing electron. We analyze the dependence of the atomic final state, obtained after the passage, on the electron's momentum. We identify experimentally accessible parameter regimes and discuss the experimental feasibility of the proposed scheme. We furthermore discuss the possibility to excite and manipulate many-body states of a chain of interacting Rydberg atoms.