Has anyone looked at RM from the point of view of quantum mechanical electron orbitals? If so could you help me understand some crazy thoughts and questions I have about it ?
I understand Rydberg hydrogen matter typically forms from excited hydrogen atoms in some way. Most literature seems to represent the electron orbits in Rydberg Hydrogen in a classical Bohr electron shell representation. What is the case in the quantum mechanical model? Are the electrons excited to particular states such as S2 or P2 orbitals? I suppose the electrons are more easily excited to P2 from the S1 orbital if excited by photon absorption for example. Does the type of RM depend on the type of orbitals the electrons are in? For example using Holmlid definitions is a S2 more likely to form H(1) type RM and P2 more likely to form H(0). Naively looking at the dumbbell shape of P2 orbitals does this allow closer approach of the nuclei than say S2 with its spherical orbital? I think it's not so straight forward though as I think in Holmlid's recent paper he mentions the orbital angular momentum (l) in each state. Particular electron orbital types have particular orbitals. S orbitals have l=0, P orbitals have l=1 etc. however he mentions that H(0) and D(0) have l=0 and H(1) and D(1) have l>0. This is the opposite than I suggested above suggesting that in fact the S orbitals allow the more compact configuration of RM and P and other Orbital types can form normal RM. On another matter are the orbitals themselves affected in the dense form of H(0) bearing in mind the very close spacing if the nuclei a few pm compared to the normal S1 orbital radius? Also does the vortex nature of the close combinations of atomic pairs into threads impact the electron orbitals?
