Calculation of Hydrogenic Bethe Logarithms for Rydberg States

This document provides reference data for all Bethe logarithms of hydrogenic bound states with principal quantum numbers n <= 200.

We investigate relativistic and quantum electrodynamic effects for highly-excited bound states in hydrogenlike systems (Rydberg states). In particular, hydrogenic one-loop Bethe logarithms are calculated for all circular states (l = n-1) in the range 20 <= n <= 60 and successfully compared to an existing asymptotic expansion for large principal quantum number n. We provide accurate expansions of the Bethe logarithm for large values of n, for S, P and circular Rydberg states. ...

Two-loop Bethe logarithms are calculated for excited P and D states in hydrogenlike systems, and estimates are presented for all states with higher angular momenta. These results complete our knowledge of the P and D energy levels in hydrogen at the order of alpha^8 m_e c^2, where m_e is the electron mass and c is the speed of light, and scale as Z^6, where Z is the nuclear charge number. Our analytic and numerical calculations are consistent with the complete absence of loga...

We calculate the two-loop Bethe logarithm correction to atomic energy levels in hydrogen-like systems. The two-loop Bethe logarithm is a low-energy quantum electrodynamic (QED) effect involving multiple summations over virtual excited atomic states. Although much smaller in absolute magnitude than the well-known one-loop Bethe logarithm, the two-loop analog is quite significant when compared to the current experimental accuracy of the 1S-2S transition: it contributes -8.19 an...

In this article we propose a simple approach for the precision calculation of Bethe logarithm. The leading contributions are obtained using specific operators, while the remaining terms are eliminated by adjusting the parameter $\lambda$. Through the use of dimensional regularization, singular divergences are algebraically canceled. Compared to the standard form of Bethe logarithm, our approach significantly reduces the complexity of constructing pseudostates in numerical eva...

The Bethe logarithm for a large set of states of the helium atom is calculated with a precision of 12-14 significant digits. The numerical data is obtained for the case of infinite mass of a nucleus. Then we study the mass dependence and provide coefficients of the $m_e/M$ expansion, which allows us to calculate accurate values for the Bethe logarithm for any finite mass. An asymptotic expansion for the Rydberg states is analyzed and a high-quality numerical approximation is ...

A general computational scheme for the (non-relativistic) Bethe logarithm is developed opening the route to `routine' evaluation of the leading-order quantum electrodynamics correction (QED) relevant for spectroscopic applications for small polyatomic and polyelectronic molecular systems. The implementation relies on Schwartz' method and minimization of a Hylleraas functional. In relation with electronically excited states, a projection technique is considered, which ensures ...

In this work we develop and implement a method for calculation of the Bethe logarithm for many-electron atoms. This quantity is required to evaluate the leading-order quantum electrodynamics correction to the energy and properties of atomic and molecular systems beyond the Dirac theory (the Lamb shift). The proposed formalism is based on the mean-field representation of the ground-state electronic wavefunction and of the response functions required in the Schwartz method [C. ...

We present a variational approach to evaluate relativistic corrections of order \alpha^2 to the Bethe logarithm for the ground electronic state of the Coulomb two center problem. That allows to estimate the radiative contribution at m\alpha^7 order in molecular-like three-body systems such as hydrogen molecular ions H_2^+ and HD^+, or antiprotonic helium atoms. While we get 10 significant digits for the nonrelativistic Bethe logarithm, calculation of the relativistic correcti...

We have computed the Bethe logarithms for the 1 singlet S, 2 singlet S and 2 triplet S states of the helium atom to about seven figure-accuracy using a generalization of a method first developed by Charles Schwartz. We have also calculated the Bethe logarithms for the helium-like ions of Li, Be, O and S for all three states to study the 1/Z behavior of the results. The Bethe logarithm of H minus was also calculated with somewhat less accuracy. The use of our Bethe logarithms ...