Calculation of Hydrogenic Bethe Logarithms for Rydberg States

A simple method of variational calculations of the electronic structure of a two-electron atom/ion, primarily near the nucleus, is proposed. The method as a whole consists of a standard solution of a generalized matrix eigenvalue equation, all matrix elements of which are reduced to a numerical calculation of one-dimensional integrals. Distinctive features of the method are: The use of the hyperspherical coordinate system. The inclusion of logarithms of the hyperspherical rad...

We report a calculation of relativistic corrections of order $m\alpha^7$ to the Bethe logarithm for the $2^3S$ and $2^3P$ states of helium-like ions. The calculation is required for improving the accuracy of theoretical energies of helium-like ions and for checking the evaluation of the $m\alpha^7$ effects in helium performed in [V. Patk\'o\v{s}, V. A. Yerokhin, K. Pachucki, Phys. Rev. A 103, 042809 (2021)], where a significant discrepancy with experimental results was found....

We describe a method for deriving logarithmic corrections in the mass ratio to the S-level of a hydrogen-like atom. With this method, a number of new corrections of this type are calculated analitically for the first time.

We present results on the self-energy correction to the energy levels of hydrogen and hydrogenlike ions. The self energy represents the largest QED correction to the relativistic (Dirac-Coulomb) energy of a bound electron. We focus on the perturbation expansion of the self energy of non-S states, and provide estimates of the so-called A60 perturbative coefficient, which can be considered as a relativistic Bethe logarithm. Precise values of A60 are given for many P, D, F and G...

In this work, we estimate the relativistic corrections to the energy spectrum of hydrogen resulting from the full one-photon-exchange interaction using a highly precise numerical method. In the frame of the effective Schrodinger-like equation, which is derived exactly from the Bethe-Salpeter equation in quantum electrodynamics, we express the effective potential corresponding to the full one-photon-exchange interaction in terms of eight scalar functions. Unlike the usual calc...

With this work we start a project of calculating the QED contribution of order $\alpha^7m$ to the $2^3P$-$2^3S$ transition energy in helium, aiming for an accurate determination of the nuclear charge radius $r_E$ from measurements of the corresponding transition frequency. Together with the complementary determination of $r_E$ from muonic helium, this project will provide a stringent test of universality of electromagnetic interactions of leptons in the Standard Model. We rep...

The N-quantum approach (NQA) to quantum field theory uses the complete and irreducible set of in or out fields, including in or out fields for bound states, as standard building blocks to construct solutions to quantum field theories. In particular, introducing in (or out) fields for the bound states allows a new way to calculate energy levels and wave functions for the bound states that is both covariant and effectively 3-dimensional. This method is independent of the Bethe-...

Comparison of precision frequency measurements to quantum electrodynamics (QED) predictions for Rydberg states of hydrogen-like ions can yield information on values of fundamental constants and test theory. With the results of a calculation of a key QED contribution reported here, the uncertainty in the theory of the energy levels is reduced to a level where such a comparison can yield an improved value of the Rydberg constant.

The self-energy corrections to the hyperfine splitting is evaluated for higher excited states in hydrogenlike ions, using an expansion in the binding parameter Zalpha, where Z is the nuclear charge number, and alpha is the fine-structure constant. We present analytic results for D, F and G states, and for a number of highly excited Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers in the range 13 <= n <= 16, and orbital angular momenta l = n-2 and l = n-1. A closed-form, analytic...

We investigate the Rydberg states generation of Hydrogen atoms with intense laser pulses, by solving the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation and by means of classical trajectory monte-carlo simulations. Both linearly polarized multi-cycle pulses and pairs of optical half cycle pulses are used. Comparisons between these methods show that both the Coulomb force and initial lateral momentum, which have effects on the $n$-distribution and $l$-distribution of the population of e...