Position and momentum information measures are evaluated for the ground state of the \emph{relativistic} hydrogen-like atoms. Consequences of the fact that the radial momentum operator is not self-adjoint are explicitly studied, exhibiting fundamental shortcomings of the conventional uncertainty measures in terms of the radial position and momentum variances. The Shannon and Rényi entropies, the Fisher information measure, as well as several related information measures, are considered as viable alternatives. Detailed results on the onset of relativistic effects for low nuclear charges, and on the extreme relativistic limit, are presented. The relativistic position density decays exponentially at large $r$, but is singular at the origin. Correspondingly, the momentum density decays as an inverse power of $p$. Both features yield divergent Rényi entropies away from a finite vicinity of the Shannon entropy. While the position space information measures can be evaluated analytically for both the nonrelativistic and the relativistic hydrogen atom, this is not the case for the relativistic momentum space. Some of the results allow interesting insight into the significance of recently evaluated Dirac-Fock vs. Hartree-Fock complexity measures for many-electron neutral atoms.
The Dirac equation is used to provide a relativistic calculation of the binding energy of a hydrogen-like atom confined within a penetrable spherical barrier. We take the potential to be Coulombic within the barrier and constant outside the barrier. Binding energies are derived for the ground state of hydrogen for various barrier heights and confining radii. In addition, it is shown that without the introduction of the principle quantum number $n$, all energy states of the confined relativistic hydrogen atom, determined by a single quantum number $k$, transfer into the known energy states of t…
The static dipole polarizability for the hydrogen molecular ions H$_2^+$, HD$^+$, and D$_2^+$ are calculated. These new data for polarizability takes into account the leading order relativistic corrections to the wave function of the three-body system resulted from the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian of $mα^4$ order. Our study covers a wide range of rotational ($L=0-5$) and vibrational ($v=0-10$) states, which are of practical interest for precision spectroscopy of the hydrogen molecular ions.
A new relativistic method based on the Dirac equation for calculating fully differential cross sections for ionization in ion-atom collisions is developed. The method is applied to ionization of the atomic hydrogen by antiproton impact, as a non-relativistic benchmark. The fully differential, as well as various doubly and singly differential cross sections for ionization are presented. The role of the interaction between the projectile and the target nucleus is discussed. Several discrepancies in available theoretical predictions are resolved. The relativistic effects are studied for ionizatio…
We present a theoretical study of the ionization dynamics of a hydrogen atom exposed to attosecond laser pulses in the extreme ultra violet region at very high intensities. The pulses are such that the electron is expected to reach relativistic velocities, thus necessitating a fully relativistic treatment. We solve the time dependent Dirac equation and compare its predictions with those of the corresponding non-relativistic Schr{ö}dinger equation. We find that as the electron is expected to reach about 20% of the speed of light, relativistic corrections introduces a finite yet small decrease i…
A long-distance effective theory of hydrogen-like atoms, dubbed the relativistic Ritz approach was recently introduced and some its theoretical consequences were explored. In this article, the relativistic Ritz approach is used to fit extant measurements of atomic hydrogen and deuterium transitions using information-theoretic analyses. As a result, the fine-structure constant ($α$), a fundamental parameter of the Standard Model, may be determined simultaneously with the ionization energies of hydrogen and deuterium, $E_I^{\text{(H)}}$ and $E_I^{\text{(D)}}$. The best hydrogen analysis yields $…
In this work, analytical formulas for the static multipole polarizabilities of hydrogen-like ions are derived by using the analytical wave functions and the reduced Green function and by applying a numerical fitting procedure. Our results are then applied to the studies of blackbody radiation shifts to atomic energy levels at different temperatures. Our analytical results can be served as a benchmark for other theoretical methods.
Relativistic strong-field ionization of hydrogen-like atoms or ions in a constant crossed electromagnetic field is studied. The transition amplitude is formulated within the strong-field approximation in Göppert-Mayer gauge, with initial and final electron states being described by the corresponding Dirac-Coulomb and Dirac-Volkov wave functions, respectively. Coulomb corrections to the electron motion during tunneling are taken into account by adjusting an established method to the present situation. Total and energy-differential ionization rates are calculated and compared with predictions fr…
Influence of external electric fields on multi-photon transitions between the 2s, 2p and 1s levels for hydrogen and anti-hydrogen atoms and hydrogen-like ions
Wavefunction-splitting or mask method, widely used in the non-relativistic calculations of the photoelectron angular distributions, is extended to the relativistic domain within the dipole approximation. Since the closed-form expressions for the relativistic Volkov states are not available within the dipole approximation, we build such states numerically solving a single second-order differential equation. We calculate the photoelectron energy spectra and angular distributions for highly charged ions under different ionization regimes with both the direct and the relativistic mask methods. We …
The "proton radius puzzle" was recently solved by reducing the four-standard deviation discrepancy between the results for electronic hydrogen ($H$) and muonic hydrogen ($μH$) atoms to $3.3$ value. The value of the root-mean-square radius of the proton ($r_p$), extracted from experiments on measuring the one-photon $2s-4p$ transition and the Lamb shift in hydrogen, is now $0.8335(95)$ fm, that is in good agreement with the muonic hydrogen experiments, $0.84087(39)$ fm. Even so, these values deviate significantly from the CODATA value, which is determined as the average using the results for va…
The Sturmian expansion of the generalized Dirac--Coulomb Green function [R.\/~Szmytkowski, J.\ Phys.\ B \textbf{30}, 825 (1997); \textbf{30}, 2747(E) (1997)] is exploited to derive a closed-form expression for the magnetizability of the relativistic one-electron atom in an arbitrary discrete state, with a point-like, spinless and motionless nucleus of charge $Ze$. The result has the form of a double finite sum involving the generalized hypergeometric functions ${}_3F_2$ of the unit argument. Our general expression agrees with formulas obtained analytically earlier by other authors for some par…
The electron impact ionization of atomic hydrogen is calculated for incident elrctron energy 76.46 eV. The Hartree-Fock approximation is used to calculate the initial state which includes both bound and continum wave functions. The final state continuum electron wave functions are obtained in the potential of hydrogen ion. The interaction between the two final state continuum electrons is approximated with the screening potential determined variationally.
The process of recombination for the hydrogen atom in the heat bath creating the blackbody radiation is descibed within the frameworks of quantum electrodynamics. For this purpose the self-energy for unbound electron in the field of the nucleus is considered. The imaginary part of this self-energy is directly connected with the recombination cross-section. The same procedure is applied to the hydrogen atom in the field of blackbody radiation. This leads to the new thermal correction to the process of recombination for the hydrogen atom in the heat bath. This correction takes into account the f…
We recalculate the leading relativistic corrections for the ground electronic state of the hydrogen molecule using variational method with explicitly correlated functions which satisfy the interelectronic cusp condition. The new computational approach allowed for the control of the numerical precision which reached about 8 significant digits. More importantly, the updated theoretical energies became discrepant with the known experimental values and we conclude that the yet unknown relativistic recoil corrections might be larger than previously anticipated.
Is it possible that two different transitions in the non-relativistic quantum mechanical model of the hydrogen atom give the same frequency? That is, can different energy level transitions in a hydrogen atom have the same photon radiation frequency? This question, which was asked during a Ph.D. oral exam in 1997 at the University of Colorado Boulder, is well-known among physics graduate students. We show a general solution to this question, in which all equifrequency transition pairs can be obtained from the set of solutions of a Diophantine equation. This fun puzzle is a simple yet concrete e…
The second-order Stark effect for a planar Dirac one-electron atom in the ground state is analyzed within the framework of the Rayleigh-Schrödinger perturbation theory, with the use of the Sturmian series expansion of the generalized Dirac-Coulomb Green function. A closed-form analytical expression for the static dipole polarizability of that system is found. The formula involves a generalized hypergeometric function ${}_{3}F_{2}$ with the unit argument. Numerical values of the polarizabilities for relativistic planar hydrogenic atoms with atomic numbers $1\leqslant Z\leqslant68$ are provided …
We analytically compute, in the first Born approximation for symmetric and asymmetric coplanar geometries, the triple differential cross sections for electron-impact ionization of hydrogen atom in the metastable 2S-state at both low and high energies. The process is investigated by using the relativistic Dirac-formalism and it is also shown that the nonrelativistic limit is accurately reproduced when using low incident kinetic energies. At high energies, relativistic and spin effects significantly affect the triple differential cross sections. Our analytical approach which seems exact is compa…
We present a detailed study about ion-atom-atom three-body recombination in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas based on classical trajectory calculations in hyperspherical coordinates. Our results, due to the predominant role of the long-range charged-induced dipole interaction, indicate that H$_2^+$ and D$_2^+$ are the main reaction products in the case of hydrogen and deuterium plasmas, respectively. Besides, we find a more steep energy-dependent reaction rate when the collision energy surpasses the dissociation energy of the molecular ion, thus entering a new dynamical regime dominated by short…
High-precision hydrogen spectroscopy is an active field which helps to determine the Rydberg constant and proton charge radius, tests bound-state QED, and can search for Beyond Standard Model (BSM) Physics. Additionally, with recent demonstrations of anti-hydrogen trapping and spectroscopy, a new line of investigation is possible whereby hydrogen can be compared to its antimatter counterpart. The next generation of precision hydrogen spectroscopy will likely require additional motional control of the atomic sample - similar to what is possible with heavier elements. Unfortunately, laser coolin…
We apply the non-linear Euler-Heisenberg theory to calculate the electric field inside the hydrogen atom. We will demonstrate that the electric field calculated in the Euler-Heisenberg theory can be much smaller than the corresponding field emerging from the Maxwellian theory. In the hydrogen atom this happens only at very small distances. This effect reduces the large electric field inside the hydrogen atom calculated from the electromagnetic form-factors via the Maxwell equations. The energy content of the field is below the pair production threshold.
The cosmic microwave background covers the entire universe, which suggests the absence of ay closed system, except the universe itself. In this paper, I consider the effect of the cosmic microwave background on the hydrogen atom, which must be very small, otherwise, changes in energy levels would have been measurable. But how small is small? This I compute by considering a system in an environment or bath. I derived the bath's, (in this case the CMB) effect on the hydrogen atom in the Feynman-Vernon approach to an open system. The effect is small and quantified in terms of a correction to the …
The Rydberg formula along with the Ritz quantum defect ansatz has been a standard theoretical tool used in atomic physics since before the advent of quantum mechanics, yet this approach has remained limited by its non-relativistic foundation. Here I present a long-distance relativistic effective theory describing hydrogen-like systems with arbitrary mass ratios, thereby extending the canonical Ritz-like approach. Fitting the relativistic theory to the hydrogen energy levels predicted by bound-state QED indicates that it is superior to the canonical, nonrelativistic approach. An analytic analys…
From the comparison between the experimental and theoretical results for the energy difference between 2s1/2 and 2p1/2 states in hydrogen and hydrogen-like ions with different values of Z, we estimate bounds for the presence of an extra fractional dimension. These bounds are higher when we work with muonic hydrogen and muonic deuterium, which open the possibility that future measurements of the Lamb shift in muonic atoms with one electron and higher values of Z may show evidence of the extra dimension.
A two-dimensional (2D) hydrogen-like atom with a relativistic Dirac electron, placed in a weak, static, uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the atomic plane, is considered. Closed forms of the first- and second-order Zeeman corrections to energy levels are calculated analytically, within the framework of the Rayleigh-Schrödinger perturbation theory, for an arbitrary electronic bound state. The second-order calculations are carried out with the use of the Sturmian expansion of the two-dimensional generalized radial Dirac-Coulomb Green function derived in the paper. It is found that, in cont…
