LAMB SHIFT IN THE HELIUM ATOM

Abstract

The calculation, first attempted by Kabir and Salpeter, (Phys. Rev. 108:1256, 1957), of the mean excitation energy entering in the Lamb shift of the helium ground state is redone by a different approach. The answer, Ln (K(o)/r(y)) equals 4.370 + or - 0.004, leaves theory and experiment on the ionization energy of helium in agreement within the experimental uncertainty of + or 1/0.15 cm. Incidental results are given for the electrostatic polarizability of He and H(-) ground states; there is appended a new discussion of the construction of higher angular momentum eigenfunctions for the 3-body problem. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1960
Accession Number
AD0258394

Entities

People

  • Charles Schwartz

Organizations

  • Stanford University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Angular Momentum
  • Atoms
  • Construction
  • Eigenvectors
  • Excitation
  • Ground State
  • Ionization
  • Lamb Shift
  • Momentum
  • Physical Properties
  • Uncertainty

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Plasma Physics.