Superrevivals of Rydberg Wave Packets

Abstract

The revival structure and evolution of Rydberg wave packets are studied on a time scale much greater than the revival time $t_{\rm rev}$. We find a new level of revival structure and periodic motion different from that of the known fractional revivals. The new sequence of revivals culminates with the formation of a wave packet that more closely resembles the initial packet than does the full revival at time $t_{\rm rev}$. We refer to such a revival as a superrevival. We also show that an initial radial wave packet may be described as a type of squeezed state known as a radial squeezed state. Our results apply not only for hydrogenic wave packets, but for wave packets in alkali-metal atoms as well in the context of quantum defect theory.