Rydberg Matter as the diffuse interstellar band (DIB) carrier in interstellar space: the model and accurate calculations of band centres

Abstract

A model for the interpretation of a large number of the 280 diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) is presented. The bands are proposed to be due to electronic excitation processes in Rydberg Matter leading to doubly excited coplanar Rydberg molecules. Rydberg Matter is composed of atoms and small molecules like H₂ in condensed coherent circular Rydberg states. It has been studied in the laboratory especially with laser time-of-flight experiments and in laser Raman spectroscopy studies. Rydberg Matter is used as the lasing medium in an ultra wide-band tunable IR laser (Chem. Phys. Lett. 376 (2003) 812). Rydberg Matter has recently been proposed to be part of the dark matter in the Universe, to be the source of the so called UIR emission bands from interstellar space and to give rise to the Faraday rotation in intergalactic space. The potential energy of the doubly excited coplanar Rydberg states, which are the final states in the DIB transitions, is now calculated accurately in the classical limit. More than 60 of the DIB bands are calculated with good accuracy. The intensity distributions of the transitions are relatively smooth without unexplained missing bands. The model used does not predict too many bands. The calculations are very accurate, in this optimal wavelength region, relative to other calculations in systems of a complexity comparable to Rydberg Matter.