Atomic wave packet basis for quantum information

We propose a wave packet basis for storing and processing several qubits of quantum information in a single multilevel atom. Using radially localized wave packet states in the Rydberg atom, we construct an orthogonal basis that is related to the usual energy level basis by a quantum Fourier transform. A transform-limited laser pulse that is short compared with the classical Kepler period of the system interacts mainly with the wave packet state localized near the atomic core, allowing selective control in this basis. We argue that wave packet control in this regime is useful for multilevel quantum information processing.