Decay rates of high-|m|Rydberg states in strong magnetic fields

Abstract

We calculate the natural decay rates of Rydberg atoms in strong magnetic fields. We use adiabatic basis sets that exploit the different time scales of the electronic motion parallel and transverse to the magnetic field. For large absolute values of the azimuthal quantum number m, our approach is very efficient and naturally leads to a classification of the decay modes into magnetron, z-bounce, and cyclotron decays. We discuss the dependence of the decay rates on m, and study the enhancement of the decay rates due to thermal radiation.