Laser Diagnostics of the Energy Spectrum of Rydberg States of the Lithium-7 Atom
Abstract—The spectra of excited lithium-7 atoms prepared in a magneto-optical trap are studied using a UV laser. The laser diagnostics of the energy of Rydberg atoms is developed based on measurements of the change in resonance fluorescence intensity of ultracold atoms as the exciting UV radiation frequency passes through the Rydberg transition frequency. The energies of various nS configurations are obtained in a broad range of the principal quantum number n from 38 to 165. The values of the quantum defect and ionization energy obtained in experiments and predicted theoretically are discussed.
Generation of Thermonuclear Energy by Fusing Hydrogen and Lithium Atoms
Abstract—A method of designing a thermonuclear reactor based on the modified Cockroft–Walton accelerator, where the lithium–proton fusion was first observed, is considered. It is proposed that the reactor have the form of a spherical capacitor with a point lithium cathode used as the inner electrode and a spherical anode, as the outer electrode. The interelectrode space is filled with hydrogen. A high-voltage electric pulse applied to the electrodes is used as a driver. The reactor parameters providing an ion temperature of 100 keV and a proton flux of 8.6 x 10^15 W/cm2to the cathode are determined. The basic elements of a system generating thermonuclear fusion energy, including those of the energy conversion chamber with a fusion chamber inside, are listed, and possible applications of the system are indicated.
Evidence for Coulomb Explosion of Doubly Charged Microclusters
Mass spectra of Pb, NaI, and Xe microclusters show that below a critical number of atoms per cluster, n**, doubly charged particles are not stable. These numbers are 30 for Pb„, 20 for {NaI)„and 52 for Xe„. The two positive charges generated at one atom by electron bombardment are likely to move to opposite sides […]
Charge migration and decay of doubly charged ammonia clusters
Synopsis The photo-fragmentation of ammonia molecular clusters ionized with soft x-rays is studied for photon energies near the N-1s threshold. The fragmentation is studied with a 3D momentum mass spectrometer to access the energy and angular correlations between fragments. By choosing the cluster sizes below or above the critical size of stable dication, we investigate […]
Energy loss, electron screening and the astrophysical 3He(d, p) 4He cross section
K. Langanke et al. We reanalyze the low-energy 3He(d, p)4He cross section measurements of Engstler et al. using recently measured energy loss data for proton and deuteron beams in a helium gas. Although the new 3He(d, p)4He astrophysical S-factors are significantly lower than those reported by Engstler et al., they clearly show the presence of electron screening effects. […]
Experimental Studies and Observations of Clusters of Rydberg Matter and Its Extreme Forms
A review is given of experimental studies of clusters of Rydberg matter (RM) with applications. This is a metallic type of matter with angular momentum l ≥ 1 for the conduction band electrons. The atoms in RM can be one-electron atoms like K, H and D which are most used in the laboratory, or two-electron atoms like He. […]
DYNAMIC ELECTRON SCREENING IN NUCLEAR REACTIONS AND ALPHA DECAYS
Electron screening of the Coulomb barrier between reacting nuclei leads to an exponential-like enhancement of nuclear cross sections for lowering projectile energies. Recently, this effect has been demonstrated by many groups for the 2H(d,p)3H and 2H(d,n)3He reactions taking place in metallic environments. The experimental results show a much stronger effect for metals than for gaseous or insulator […]
Ionization of Rydberg atoms by blackbody radiation
We have studied ionization of alkali-metal Rydberg atoms by blackbody radiation (BBR). The results of theoretical calculations of ionization rates of Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs Rydberg atoms are presented. The calculations have been performed for nS, nP and nD states for principal quantum numbers n = 8–65 at ambient temperatures of 77, 300 […]
Investigation of Metastable Xenon
In this investigation, we observe magnetic resonance signals of metastable 129Xe sealed in a pyrex cell. We use external RF electrodes to generate the metastable Xe atoms. The metastable 129Xe is optically pumped by a diode laser tuned to the optical resonance of the metastable state. The hyperfine resonance signal of metastable 129Xe has been […]
LONG-LIVED AUTO IONIZING STATES OF NOBLE-GAS ATOMS AND IONS
Long-lived autoionizing states of argon, krypton, and xenon atoms, and of singly-charged argon ions, are observed by the mass-spectrometric method. Special ion sources were used in which atoms were excited or ionized by electron impact, and the autoionization process was registered by means of the ions produced in a separate chamber. The long-lived autoionizing states […]