Events

Radiative Cascade in Rydberg Atoms

This talk is an introduction to the physics of Rydberg atoms. The two complementary flavors of Rydberg atoms, high and low angular momentum states, have contrasting properties as they relate to the correspondence principle that bridges classical behavior to quantum mechanics. Dynamic symmetries allow a unified point of view to investigate this correspondence. Highly excited atoms dissipate their energy in different ways depending on their initial angular momentum: low angular momentum states make transitions in large energy increments, quickly approaching the ground state, while high angular momentum states make small steps, slowly spiraling towards lower states.

The Impact of Electron Physics in High Energy Density Plasmas

The study of high energy density plasmas (HEDP) allows researchers to study the impact of microscopic phenomena on macroscopic scales by using plasmas dense enough to be probed by high energy photons (i.e. visible, UV, X-ray). This probe allows us to use readily available detectors to make precise, two-dimensional measurements of the electron density and infer the electron flow speed and magnetic field.