Quantum Institute: Visitor Schedule

The Quantum Lunch is regularly held on Thursdays in the Theoretical Division Conference Room, TA-3, Building 123, Room 121.
For more information, contact Diego Dalvit.
To add your name to the Quantum Lunch email list, contact Charlotte Lehman

Thursday, August 19, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

T-4 Conference Room (SM-524, Rm 105)

Speaker: Lowell Brown (XCP-4)

Technical Host: Peter Milonni

TOPIC: The Classical Limit of the Hydrogen Atom and How I Got Only Part of it Right

Abstract
Long ago I constructed a wavepacket solution for the hydrogen atom in the region of large principal quantum number n. This wavepacket follows a classical circular orbit. It has a width on the order of n^(-1/2) times the size of the orbit. The wave packet spreading is negligible for macroscopic systems. In modern time, Rydberg atoms have be made in which not only is the spreading is significant but --- after a longer time --- contraction appears. That part I did not get right.