Blackbody radiation Zeeman shift in Rydberg atoms

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how blackbody radiation at room temperature causes Zeeman shifts in Rydberg atoms, revealing that the Zeeman shift can dominate the Stark shift at high principal quantum numbers, impacting precision measurements.

Contribution

It demonstrates the different behaviors of BBR Stark and Zeeman shifts in Rydberg atoms and highlights the significance of the Zeeman shift in high-precision experiments.

Findings

BBR Stark shift approaches a constant with increasing quantum number

BBR Zeeman shift grows steeply with quantum number due to diamagnetism

Zeeman shift can surpass Stark shift in Rydberg transitions

Abstract

We consider the Zeeman shift in Rydberg atoms induced by room-temperature blackbody radiation (BBR). BBR shifts to the Rydberg levels are dominated by the familiar BBR Stark shift. However, the BBR Stark shift and the BBR Zeeman shift exhibit different behaviors with respect to the principal quantum number of the Rydberg electron. Namely, the BBR Stark shift asymptotically approaches a constant value given by a universal expression, whereas the BBR Zeeman shift grows steeply with principal quantum number due to the diamagnetic contribution. We show that for transitions between Rydberg states, where only the differential shift between levels is of concern, the BBR Zeeman shift can surpass the BBR Stark shift. We exemplify this in the context of a proposed experiment targeting a precise determination of the Rydberg constant.