Role of the atomic Coulomb center in ionization and periodic orbit selection

Abstract

The motion of a Rydberg electron in crossed electric and magnetic fields is a widely encountered and poorly understood problem of great complexity. We explain photoabsorption experiments that probe the electron's intricate periodic motions. In particular, we show how the Coulomb center acts as a selector of planar versus three-dimensional motion and investigate the stability and ionization behavior of trajectories that start at the nucleus.