Heavy Rydberg states

This paper discusses the nature of heavy Rydberg states, i.e. quantum states in molecular systems that are bound by the almost pure Coulomb potential between pairs of ions. A theoretical framework is developed in terms of mass-scaling laws for heavy Rydberg systems of certain reduced mass, so that the physics of electronic Rydberg states can be straightforwardly applied to heavier ion-pair systems, or any other system bound by a 1/r potential. The general description of such quantum systems is supported by an experimental investigation of the energy region near the H