Selective excitation of quantum wave packets in a classical chaotic environment

We examine the preparation and temporal evolution of quantum wave packets from Rydberg states of a hydrogen atom in a magnetic field; the energy range corresponds to classical chaotic dynamics. Excitation via an intermediate state of the regular Rydberg spectrum results in a significant simplification of the spectrum of oscillator strengths, and the production of wave packets that evolve along selected closed classical trajectories. 15 refs., 18 figs