In reply to Jones Beene's message of Sun, 28 Nov 2010 15:33:53 -0800: Hi, [snip] >Poser: > >Rydberg states of hydrogen atoms are dense (far denser than osmium for >instance) and "long-lived" in one way of looking at the situation (compared >to Muons or other exotica, for instance) but the so-called radiative >lifetime of a circular Rydberg state, n = 100 is approximately 1 second, it >seems.
Rydberg states are large n states, which rapidly decay. They are not dense AFAIK. The dense ones are theoretical and are called "inverse" Rydberg atoms. Those who propose them suggest that the electron is in the centre and is orbited by the proton (nonsense IMO). I think Mills/my model is much more deserving of the name, since the orbitals take on inverse n values. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
