Excited States of Atoms in Strong External Fields

Abstract

In this paper the problem of the one electron-like atom in strong external fields, with emphasis placed upon experimental investigations, is discussed. This subject derives its importance from the need to understand the atomic structure of atoms in strong fields found in nature. For example, to interpret the spectra of atomic species obtained in astrophysical or laboratory fusion plasmas, one needs a detailed physical picture of the interaction between the atom and the field. Aside from the rather striking spectroscopic phenomenology that atoms placed in strong magnetic or electric fields exhibit, a major attraction of this subject to an experimental physicist is that this problem has not been solved theoretically, except in the broadest of terms. Thus the opportunity for a well chosen experiment to help direct theoretical models for the phenomenology is quite good. Indeed, this subject is one in which experimental observations have led the way in developing our physical understanding since the earliest delineation of the problem.