Classical periodic motion of atomic-electron wave packets

Abstract

An experiment is described in which a coherent superposition of the Rydberg states of atomic potassium is excited by a short optical pulse. The coherent superposition forms a wave packet localized in the radial coordinate. The radial motion of the wave packet is periodic with the period of the classical Kepler orbit. The time evolution is probed by a second short pulse. The resulting photoionization signal, as a function of the delay between pulses, shows the classical periodicity.