J mixing in nD (n=10-14) states of caesium induced in collisions with noble-gas atoms

Abstract

Cross sections for the J mixing (transfer of excitation between fine-structure sublevels) in the nD (n=10-14) states of caesium due to collisions with noble-gas atoms are measured by the integrated intensities method. It is found that the cross sections corresponding to the different noble-gas perturbers are of the same order of magnitude for lower values of the principal quantum number n but become increasingly different from each other with increasing n and for n=13 and 14 the difference approaches two orders of magnitude. Qualitatively, the n-dependence of the cross sections is similar to that obtained in the studies of the l-mixing collisions in the Rydberg states of the alkali-metal atoms. The results are compared with those predicted by the existing theoretical models. Good agreement is obtained for He and Ne perturbers with the results of calculations by Sirko et al. in which the Fermi pseudopotential and perturbation approach were employed.