Ultralong-range triatomic Rydberg molecules in an electric field

TL;DR

This paper studies the electronic structure of ultralong-range triatomic Rydberg molecules, focusing on how external electric fields influence their potential energy surfaces across various geometries.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of how electric fields affect the electronic potentials of triatomic Rydberg molecules with different geometries.

Findings

Electric fields significantly alter the potential energy surfaces.

Different molecular geometries respond uniquely to external fields.

The study advances understanding of Rydberg molecule behavior in external fields.

Abstract

We investigate the electronic structure of a triatomic Rydberg molecule formed by a Rydberg atom and two neutral ground-state atoms. Taking into account the $s$-wave and $p$-wave interactions we perform electronic structure calculations and analyze the adiabatic electronic potentials evolving from the Rb$(n=35, l\ge 3)$ Rydberg degenerate manifold. We hereby focus on three different classes of geometries of the Rydberg molecules, including symmetric, asymmetric and planar configurations. The metamorphosis of these potential energy surfaces in the presence of an external electric field is explored.