Rydberg Matter – a common form of matter in the Universe Leif Holmlid Abstract: The electronically excited condensed matter named Rydberg Matter seems to be a state of matter of the same significance as liquid or solid matter. In fact, it may be the most common form of matter in the Universe. In this talk, spectroscopic signatures from space will be discussed and described in terms of transitions in Rydberg Matter, both in emission, absorption, and stimulated Raman. The interpretations are based on experimental results. Recent experiments give proof for metallic atomic hydrogen, of interest not only for intergalactic space but possibly also for understanding planets like Jupiter.

A perspective view of a cluster of Rydberg Matter with 19 atoms or molecules. The core ions in space will in general be H + and H 2 +, with one electron per atom or molecule excited to the RM region. The clusters are formed by interacting circular Rydberg species Rydberg Matter forms planar clusters

Schematical drawing of the setup for observing the spectra of stimulated emission. The grating is turned under computer control. The chopper and end mirror can be replaced by a spinning mirror. Experimental verification: RM in a tunable cavity - the RM laser The RM laser is a thermal laser, converting thermal energy to laser light in the IR. Extremely broadband tunable, 800 – nm and longer. Publications on stimulated emission from RM: L. Holmlid, Chem. Phys. Lett. 367 (2003) S. Badiei and L. Holmlid, Chem. Phys. Lett. 376 (2003) L. Holmlid, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 37 (2004) Emitters for RM: here alkali doped metal oxide catalysts, otherwise carbon w. alkali atoms

Energy diagram for RM Transitions for the stimulated emission Metal-like conduction band with delocalized electrons that give the bonding Two-electron processes in general

Stimulated emission: signal from cavity n 2 = n 4 ” Cutoff due to MCT detector

Stimulated emission from RM n2n4”n2n4” RM theory agrees well with UIR bands: A&A 358 (2000)

UIR band structure: Stimulated Raman with He-Ne laser, backscattered UIR type B = carbon-rich stars Buss et al. (1993) UIR type A = nebulae, galaxies Bregman et al. (1989) Black curves: calculated from RM model to fit Astrophys. J. 548 (2001) L249-L252. Calculated from Raman shift

Comparison of transitions in the RM laser and in space (from Kahanpää et al. 2003) High upper level due to resonance with Rydberg state stimulated emission n = 9 5 and 7 5. Peaks of unidentified infrared bands = UIR bands

Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) seen in absorption against reddened stars More than 280 bands with widths 0.5 – 140 cm -1 at nm Process for DIB transitions: L. Holmlid, “Rydberg Matter as the diffuse interstellar band (DIB) carriers in interstellar space: the model and accurate calculations of band centers”. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 6 (2004) co-planar state n4n4 n3n3

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 6 (2004) DIB band heads

Best evidence: 60 sharp DIB bands

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 6 (2004) Intensities for all DIBs X overlap with other transitions Low intensity for states n n n 4 -1 Band heads

Stack of RM clusters, stable at low temperature. Attracted and aligned by magnetic forces, held apart by electrostatic forces DARK MATTER = RM? H atom in RM with n=80 occupies larger volume than in ground state.. Badiei & Holmlid, “Rydberg Matter in space - low density condensed dark matter”. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 333 (2002) Faraday rotation in intergalactic space Badiei & Holmlid, “Magnetic field in the intracluster medium: Rydberg matter with almost free electrons”. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 335 (2002) L94-L98.

Redshift from stimulated Raman in translating electron states in RM clusters Astrophys. Space Sci. 291 (2004) Quantized redshifts at 21 cm wavelength Observed in the local supercluster of galaxies

Appl. Phys. B 79 (2004) Similar studies: Phys. Rev. A 63 (2001) Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 26 (2004) Experimental studies of redshifts in RM Lead salt diode lasers single-mode  = cm K

Redshifts in transmission through cold RM Size 0.02 cm -1 Etalon tempe- rature T coeff cm -1 K -1 RM emitter temp.

Appl. Phys. B 79 (2004) Redshifts 0.02 cm -1 in reflection from deposited (cold) layer of RM Hot RM gives blueshifts instead. Redshifts in space Calculations using stimulated Raman theory from these results give redshifts of at least the same size as observed

Pulsed laser fragmentation of RM ns pulses excite pairs of electrons and give Coulomb explosions. The smaller cluster/ particle moves away with most of the kinetic energy d = 2.9 n 2 a 0 W = e 2 /(4  0 d) Low excitation levels in RM are studied

RM Coulomb explosion experiments Hydrogen molecule RM Wang & Holmlid, Chem. Phys. Lett. 325 (2000) , Chem. Phys. 261 (2000) , ibid 277 (2002) ; Badiei & Holmlid Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 220 (2002) , Chem. Phys. 282 (2002)

Badiei & Holmlid, Phys. Lett. A 327 (2004) eV from Coulomb explosion Hydrogen atom RM at n = 1 n = 1 is the lowest possible state of RM which is the same as metallic hydrogen d = 150 ± 8 pm

Badiei & Holmlid, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 16 (2004) Multiple repulsions + 2+ (18 ev), 3+ (27 eV) Hydrodynamic acceleration > 1 keV for H + observed in experiments with acceleration lengths of 1 cm Cosmic rays? Very high proton energies

IR observation from comets Ultra-red matter detected might be RM. RM emits selectively in the IR, as seen in the RM laser ”Deep Space” flyby at Comet 19P/Borrelly

Polarization at comets two classes Reflectance of sun from comets, visible light, unpolarized The observed polarization P is much too low for almost any assumption about particle size, shape and composition. Planar RM clusters probably have few polarizability elements (but large!) which gives good agreement. for RM Negative polarization possible?