Long lifetimes of the Rydberg atoms seems counterintuitive to me.
Intuitive explanation: the higher electron was excited, the more levels below became available for spontaneous decay. So the first thought is the probability of decay should increase.
But the experiments say that highly excited Rydberg atoms are extremely stable (lifetimes ~ seconds). Moreover, the lifetime tends to grow with the increase of quantum number n.
Is there any mistake in my intuitive explanation?
Edited: I do not agree that my question duplicates the one some users pointed at. My question is about possible ways to deal with inconsistency between intuitive explanation and experimental facts.
