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arXiv:0902.4818 · Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters

Nature of a nonzero frequency shift of a hyperfine transition in two-dimensional atomic hydrogen

A. I. Safonov, I. I. Safonova, Igor Stanislavovich Yasnikov

Published Sep 1, 2009• 2 citations
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Abstract

We propose the explanation of a small yet finite frequency shift of a hyperfine transition in two-dimensional atomic hydrogen bound to the surface of superfluid helium at T < 0.1 K. The nonzero shift is caused, first, by the interaction between adsorbed atoms, which effectively reduces their binding energy to the helium surface by a value proportional to their density and, consequently, reduces the deviation of the hyperfine constant from the free-atom value. Second, the transition between the hyperfine states b and c is shifted owing to a difference in the interaction of the b and c atoms with the residual atoms in the state a that appear due to one and two-body nuclear relaxation. This shift is also linear in the density of the two-dimensional gas. The net effect of the two contributions qualitatively agrees with the experimentally observed value of the shift.

DOI
10.1134/s0021364009130037

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We propose the explanation of a small yet finite frequency shift of a hyperfine transition in two-dimensional atomic hydrogen bound to the surface of superfluid helium at T < 0.1 K. The nonzero shift is caused, first, by the interaction between adsorbed atoms, which effectively reduces their binding energy to the helium surface by a value proportional to their density and, consequently, reduces the deviation of the hyperfine constant from the free-atom value. Second, the transition between the hyperfine states b and c is shifted owing to a difference in the interaction of the b and c atoms with the residual atoms in the state a that appear due to one and two-body nuclear relaxation. This shift is also linear in the density of the two-dimensional gas. The net effect of the two contributions qualitatively agrees with the experimentally observed value of the shift.
We study three-body recombination in the gas of spin-polarized atomic hydrogen adsorbed on the surface of superfluid helium at temperatures from 45to130mK45\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}130\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mK}45to130mK. The two-dimensional gas is thermally compressed to densities up to $\ensuremath{\approx}4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{12}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ using the ``cold spot'' method which makes the three-body process the dominant decay channel in the system. We measure the loss rate and surface density of atoms directly and independently and observe the former to be proportional to the third power of the latter. The result for the surface three-body recombination rate constant at 4.6T4.6\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{T}4.6T, ${L}_{s}=2.0(7)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}25}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{4}∕\mathrm{s}$, significantly reduces the discrepancy between the theory and earlier measurements where the surface density was inferred from the adsorption isotherm. We also measured the three-body rate constant on a 0.1% $^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ film and found ${L}_{s}=1.3(4)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{4}∕\mathrm{s}$. This larger value is attributed to an increased delocalization of adsorbed hydrogen atoms in the direction normal to the surface.
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