Eur. Phys. J. D 40, 65-71 (2006)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2006-00098-x

Polyatomic molecules formed with a Rydberg atom in an ultracold environment

Max-Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

Corresponding author: ^a ivanliu@pks.mpg.de

Received: 7 December 2005
Revised: 15 February 2006
Published online: 5 May 2006

Abstract

We investigate properties of ultralong-range polyatomic molecules formed with a Rb Rydberg atom and several ground-state atoms whose distance from the Rydberg atom is of the order of n²a₀, where n is the principle quantum number of the Rydberg electron. In particular, we put emphasis on the splitting of the energy levels, and elucidate the nature of the splitting via the construction of symmetry-adapted orbitals.