Satellites Bands of Cs and Rb

In species for which a ground-state atom exhibits an electron-atom scattering resonance, the interaction potentials between ground and excited state Cs and Rb atoms were predicted [1,2] to produce oscillations out to hundreds of a.u. It is proposed here that these oscillatory potential curve extrema are responsible for producing satellite bands observable in experimantal absorption spectra [3]. These bands could be identical with curious satellite structures found in line-braodening absorption spectra of Cs vapor and recently also in Rb. Currently we are investigating the preliminary evidence that these features may derive from long-range oscillations in the Cs-Cs and Rb-Rb Rydberg interaction potentials. If confirmed, this could provide an indirect verification of the previously proposed existence of long-range Rydberg molecule bound states. [1] M. I. Chibisov, A. A. Khuskivadze, and I. I. Fabrikant, J Phys. B35, L193 (2002) [2] E. L. Hamilton, C. H. Greene, and H. R. Sadeghpour, J Phys. B35, (2002) [3] H. Heinke, J. Lawrenz, K. Niemax, and K. H. Weber, Z. Phys. A312, 329 (1983). This work was supported in part by NSF.