There is strength in numbers, especially if large numbers of Rydberg atoms are coherent. This tendency for Rydberg atoms to sync up will make them very long lived because there will be no interfering wave patterns to disturb the coherent ensemble.
See: Viewpoint: Rydberg Atoms Jump in Bunches http://physics.aps.org/articles/v5/5 On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 3:38 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > In reply to Axil Axil's message of Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:14:51 -0500: > Hi, > [snip] > >If not absorbed into the micro-powder, these large and excited molecules > of > >all types will steal more Rydberg atoms from the envelope and grow even > >bigger. > > Normal Rydberg atoms are unstable to spontaneous decay to normal atoms (if > I'm > not mistaken). > > IRH OTOH needs to find keV/atom to return to "normal". > > Regards, > > Robin van Spaandonk > > http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html > >
