A report by:

FComm. D.L. Wey

DCOSR: SFS-SFC

One of the most enigmatic quandaries in the science of physics today is that of the atom; Because the science of physics deals with both particle and classical [meaning the quantum as well as the Newtonian], with laws that govern space and time. But these laws come under close scrutiny when one is dealing with Rydberg atoms.

These are atoms that have the outer most electron in an immensely large orbit. And that in itself is a rarity, for though they occur in nature, they are extremely delicate.

It is the behavior of the outer most electron that is of interest. For while on its outer most swing [away from the core of the nuclei] it obeys the laws of classical physics.

But as it enters into closer orbit, its observance of the laws of classical physics slowly ceases, and quantum mechanics takes over.

Even with the use of laser guided optical systems, the veil that obscures the very heart of the atom, keeps them in the ‘classical’ world. The ‘quantum mechanical’ world remains invisible.

So the quandary remains, with only vague theories with which to explain the principles of wave-particle duality [which basically says that a moving particle can be regarded as a wave whose characteristics depend on the particles' energy].

The Rydberg atoms show characteristics with electrons cutting paths that [while at times regular] tend to teeter on the brink of chaos.

However, getting the goods on something which acts both as a particle and a wave have bordered on the metaphysical. For a fundamental law [the Heisenberg uncertainty principle] asserts that certain pairs of variables cannot be simultaneously determined or observed. Measurements made of Rydberg atoms are not so much of position and speed as they are of energy and time.

For though the realm of Newtonian physics seems to be one of order and predictability, and that of quantum mechanics mere chaos, the boundaries between the two are not so cut and dry.

And though the quantum-classical boundary remains a place of mystery, research conducted observing the Rydberg atoms has made the forbidding abstractness of quantum mechanics a little less forbidding.