The kicked rydberg atom: Regular and stochastic motion

Abstract

We have investigated the dynamics of a three-dimensional classical Rydberg atom driven by a sequence of pulses. Both the deterministic system with periodic pulses and the closely related “noisy” system with random pulses have been studied in parallel. The Lyapunov exponent is calculated as a function of pulse height and the angular momentum of the initial state. We find differences between noisy and deterministic perturbations to be most pronounced for small pulse heights. Low angular momentum orbits show enhanced diffusion in agreement with recent experimental data for ion-solid interaction.