Creation of polar and nonpolar ultra-long-range rydberg molecules
We predict the existence of a ubiquitous class of long-range molecular Rydberg states, whose Born-Oppenheimer potential curves are oscillatory in nature. These oscillations reflect the nodal structure of the atomic Rydberg state wave functions. The temperature and density of atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate are particularly favorable for the laser excitation of ultra-long-range vibrational bound states localized at internuclear distances in the range 10(3)- 10(5) a.u. A surprising trilobitelike class of polar homonuclear diatomics should exhibit electric dipole moments in the kilodebye range.
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