Trojan Electrons
Illustration showing how to transform an electron from its usual state in an atom (a), in which it exists in
a cloud of possible positions surrounding the positively charged nucleus (indicated by a plus sign),
to a "Trojan state" (f), in which the electron orbits the nucleus like
a planet around the sun. The name comes from Trojan asteroids,
the asteroids which orbit the sun in the same orbit as Jupiter but in a place either ahead or behind the planet.
To create a Trojan electron, researchers would first use laser light to put the electron into
a "circular Rydberg state" in which the electron exists in a thin donut of possible positions (b). Then, a microwave beam would subsequently change
the shape of the donut (c-e), shrinking the range of possible positions for the electron and
ultimately causing the electron to shrink into a small droplet (or alternatively, a shortened sausage)
of possible positions.
This droplet then orbits the nucleus like a planet around the sun.
Although not
yet achieved experimentally, researchers believe that current technology could be applied
to create Trojan electrons. The figure is not to scale--the circular Rydberg and Trojan states are actually hundreds of thousands of times farther away from the nucleus.
In addition, the figure essentially shows just
the top half of the probability cloud for the Trojan electron.
