Dynamics of a Rydberg hydrogen atom near a topologically insulating surface

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Martín-Ruiz, A, Chan-López, E
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 08.11.2017
• Subjects: Angular momentum; Hydrogen; Magnetic monopoles; Physics - Chaotic Dynamics; Physics - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics; Topological insulators
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1711.03164

We investigate the classical dynamics of a Rydberg hydrogen atom near the surface of a planar topological insulator. The system is described by a Hamiltonian consisting of the free-hydrogen part and the hydrogen-surface potential. The latter includes the interactions between the electron and both image electric charges and image magnetic monopoles. Owing to the axial symmetry, the \(z\) component of angular momentum \(l_{z}\) is conserved. Here we consider the \(l_{z} = 0\) case. The structure of the phase space is explored extensively by means of numerical techniques and Poincar\'{e} surfaces of section for the recently discovered topological insulator TlBiSe\(_{2}\). The phase space of the system is separated into regions of vibrational and rotational motion. We show that vibrational-rotational-vibrational type transitions can be tuned with the topological magnetoelectric polarizability.