Threading an atom with light

We propose a ponderomotive trapping mechanism for circular Rydberg atoms that consists in threading the Rydberg orbital with a tightly focused Gaussian laser beam. The trap exhibits remarkable properties: it can be made effectively linear, extremely nonlinear, or have the same trapping frequency, depth, or nonlinearity for distant Rydberg states. The mechanism is capable of efficiently trapping highly excited Rydberg states with a single active electron, as well as ground-state atoms using a single beam. Alternatively, the Rydberg atom can be efficiently trapped by the same beam used to excite it, relaxing optical constraints in well-shielded environments.