Signatures of Anderson localization in the ionization rates of periodically driven Rydberg states

We provide a statistical characterization of the ionization yield of one-di mensional, periodically driven Rydberg states of atomic hydrogen, in the sp irit of Anderson localization theory. We find excellent agreement with pred ictions for the conductance across an Anderson localized, quasi-one-dimensi onal, disordered wire, in the semiclassical limit of highly excited atomic initial states. For the moderate atomic excitations typically encountered i n state of the art laboratory experiments, finite-size effects induce signi ficant deviations from the solid state picture. However, large-scale fluctu ations of the atomic conductance prevail and are robust when averaged over a finite interval of driving field amplitudes, as inevitably done in the ex periment.