Schematic diagram of the Rydberg energy level structure for a given value of the radial quantum number n
Figure 3. Schematic diagram of the Rydberg energy level structure for a given value of the radial quantum number n. The panel on the left illustrates level shifts due to the quantum defects δnL for L = 0, 1, 2. The panel on the right shows how the degeneracy in the L levels is lifted by the anisotropic term {\underline{H}}^{\prime } in (54).
Abstract
We introduce an adiabatic theory of Rydberg atoms in which non-Abelian gauge potentials arise. An example is given in which the polarization properties of a complex core lead to emergent gauge potentials that describe a 't Hooft–Polyakov monopole. The latter induces a spin–orbit like interaction through a mechanism called isospin–spin conversion. We briefly review the current status of experimental efforts to detect the resulting Landè-like fine structure splittings. We address the relevance of this phenomenon with recent efforts to dress cold atoms with lasers in order to induce Rashba–Dresselhaus spin–orbit couplings.