Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1002.4743 · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Two-photon decays of highly excited states in hydrogen

Dmitry A. Solovyev, V Dubrovich, A. V. Volotka, Leonti N Labzowsky, G Plunien

Published Aug 20, 2010• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The relativistic and nonrelativistic approaches for the calculations of the two-photon decay rates of highly excited states in hydrogen are compared. The dependence on the principal quantum number ( n ) of the n s, n d and n p initial states is investigated up to n = 100 for the nonresonant emissions. For the n s states together with the main E1E1 channel the contributions of higher multipoles (M1M1, E2E2 and E1M2) are considered. For the n p states the E1M1 and E1E2 channels are evaluated. Moreover, the simple analytical formula for the E1M1 decay is derived in the nonrelativistic limit.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/43/17/175001

Related papers

Two-photon decay of excited levels in hydrogen: The ambiguity of the separation of cascades and pure two-photon emission

Leonti N Labzowsky, Dmitry A. Solovyev, G. Plunien

The problem of the evaluation of the two-photon decay width of excited states in hydrogen is considered. Two different approaches to the evaluation of the width including cascades channels are employed: the summation of the transition probabilities for various decay channels and the evaluation of the imaginary part of the Lamb shift. As application, the two-photon decay channels for the $3s$ level of the hydrogen atom are evaluated, including the cascade transition probability $3s\text{\ensuremath{-}}2p\text{\ensuremath{-}}1s$. An important role is assigned to the two-photon decays in astrophysics context, since processes of this kind provide a possibility for the decoupling of radiation and matter in the early universe. We demonstrate the ambiguity of separation of the ``pure'' two-photon contribution and criticize the existing methods for such a separation.

arXiv:0904.2346•Physical Review A•Dec 31, 2009•31 citations

Two-photon decay of hydrogenic atoms

J. H. Tung, X. M. Salamo, F. T. Chan

The two-photon decay mode of hydrogenic atoms from an arbitrary state (${n}_{1}$, ${l}_{1}$, ${m}_{1}$) to an arbitrary state (${n}_{2}$, ${l}_{2}$, ${m}_{2}$) is studied within the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. In the dipole approximation, these decay rates, which involve infinite summation over intermediate states, are derived exactly via a general second-order matrix element obtained by Kelsey and Macek and an implicit technique introduced by Dalgarno and Lewis. The results are expressed in terms of hypergeometric functions. For transitions ${n}_{1}s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{n}_{2}s$, our results reduce to those of Klarsfeld whose starting point is the Coulomb Green's function. For transitions to the ground state, an alternative expression involving a simple one-dimensional integral is presented. The decay rate of the $2s$ metastable state of atomic hydrogen is calculated as an illustration of the method. The result, $\frac{1}{\ensuremath{\tau}}=8.2284$ ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, agrees with Klarsfeld. For transitions of ${n}_{1}s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$ and ${n}_{1}d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s ({n}_{1}\ensuremath{\ge}3)$, the transition rates exhibit interesting and unexpected structures. In particular, "zeros" are found in the two-photon emission spectrum indicating that two-photon emission is not possible at certain frequencies. Physically, these "zeros" are the result of destructive interference between the radiating dipole terms associated with the sum over intermediate states. In addition to the emission spectrum the expected coincidence signal between two detectors monitoring the two photons simultaneously emitted during a two-photon transition is calculated as a function of the angle between the detectors. The angular distribution for the ${n}_{1}d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$ transitions is shown to be significantly different from the ${n}_{1}s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$ transitions. Finally, a possible experiment is suggested to test the results presented in this paper.

Physical Review A•Sep 1, 1984•72 citations

General analytical theory of three-photon decays for hydrogenic ions with Coulomb Sturmian basis functions

Falone Fotsing, M.G. Kwato Njock

In this paper, we extend to three-photon radiative transitions in hydrogenic ions our fully relativistic multipole approach [Z. Bona et al., Phys. Rev. A 89, 022514 (2014)], which has proven so far to yield extremely accurate results for two-photon emission processes. Closed-form formulas of double and single differential frequency distributions as well as total emission probabilities are derived for arbitrary multipole channels by using the Dirac-Coulomb Sturmian functions of the first order. Two cases of atomic systems are considered in the study, namely, ions with a spinless nucleus and those with a nonzero nuclear spin to check the validity of the Bose-Einstein statistics for three-photon emission investigated by Zalialiutdinov et al. [J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 49, 055001 (2016)]. In an effort to assess relativistic effects and the influence of the negative spectrum of the set of Dirac-Coulomb Sturmians, we formulate two nonrelativistic schemes that involve Schr\"odinger-Coulomb Sturmians, a transition operator with retardation, on one hand, and a transition operator in the long wavelength approximation, on the other hand. An application of these theories is made for the relativistic and nonrelativistic atomic transitions $2{s}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1/2}, 2{p}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1/2}, 2{p}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2{s}_{1/2}$ and $2s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s, 2p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$, respectively, with nuclear charge ranging from 1 to 100. Some of our numerical values are compared with the scarce data available in the literature and they enable us to draw inferences as to the improvements obtained with our approach, while the others are additional results that we provide as a further step for more investigations of three-photon decays.

Physical Review A•Apr 2, 2024•1 citation

Influence of external electric fields on multi-photon transitions between the 2s, 2p and 1s levels for hydrogen and antihydrogen atoms and hydrogen-like ions

Dmitry A. Solovyev, V Sharipov, Leonti N Labzowsky +1 more

One- and two-photon transitions in the hydrogen atom are analytically evaluated in the absence and in the presence of an external electric field. The emission probabilities are different for the hydrogen and anti-hydrogen atoms due to the existence of contributions, linear in electric field. The magnitude of these contributions is evaluated within the nonrelativistic limit. The Coulomb Green function method is applied. Different nonrelativistic "forms" for the decay probabilities in combination with different gauge choices are considered. The three-photon E1E1E1 2p-1s transition probability is also evaluated and possible applications of the results are discussed.

arXiv:0904.1503•Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Mar 19, 2010•18 citations

Two Photon Processes within the Hyperfine Structure of Hydrogen

Spencer Dylan Percy

The hyperfine levels for the ground state of hydrogen are normally connected by magnetic dipole transitions. However, for astrophysical applications, it may be that two-photon electric dipole processes are also important over cosmological distances. This thesis sets up a general mathematical formalism for the calculation of two-photon processes within the hyperfine structure of an atom with spin $1/2$, and applies it to the ground state of hydrogen. Rates are calculated for both spontaneous emission and absorption of radiation. Due to an extraordinary degree of cancellation in the matrix elements, the rates turn out to be too small to have a significant impact on astrophysical processes involving the absorption and emission of radiation. The results are nevertheless important in reducing the uncertainty due to possible contributions from these processes. Other two-photon processes involving Raman scattering are also considered and the relevant cross sections calculated. The calculations of the decay rate, absorption coefficient and Raman scattering cross section are extended to heavier hydrogenic ions as a function of the nuclear charge $Z$, using an approximate interpolation formula for the hyperfine splitting in the ground state. Results are presented for the hydrogenlike ions from He$^+$ to Pb$^{81+}$. Modifications for the case of isotopes with a nuclear spin greater than $1/2$ are briefly considered

•Jan 1, 2018•0 citations

Comment on ‘‘Lifetime of excited atomic states’’

Viorica Florescu, I. F. Schneider, Ion Nicolae Mihailescu

We show that the two-photon nonresonant contribution to the lifetime of excited 3s and 3d states of hydrogen, as given by a formula recently derived by Cresser et al. [Phys. Rev. A 33, 1677 (1986)], can be evaluated in an economic way using the analytic expressions of the amplitudes of 3s-1s and 3d-1s two-photon transitions. Our numerical evaluation confirms the numbers given by Cresser et al.

Physical Review A•Aug 1, 1988•16 citations
The relativistic and nonrelativistic approaches for the calculations of the two-photon decay rates of highly excited states in hydrogen are compared. The dependence on the principal quantum number ( n ) of the n s, n d and n p initial states is investigated up to n = 100 for the nonresonant emissions. For the n s states together with the main E1E1 channel the contributions of higher multipoles (M1M1, E2E2 and E1M2) are considered. For the n p states the E1M1 and E1E2 channels are evaluated. Moreover, the simple analytical formula for the E1M1 decay is derived in the nonrelativistic limit.
The problem of the evaluation of the two-photon decay width of excited states in hydrogen is considered. Two different approaches to the evaluation of the width including cascades channels are employed: the summation of the transition probabilities for various decay channels and the evaluation of the imaginary part of the Lamb shift. As application, the two-photon decay channels for the 3s3s3s level of the hydrogen atom are evaluated, including the cascade transition probability $3s\text{\ensuremath{-}}2p\text{\ensuremath{-}}1s$. An important role is assigned to the two-photon decays in astrophysics context, since processes of this kind provide a possibility for the decoupling of radiation and matter in the early universe. We demonstrate the ambiguity of separation of the ``pure'' two-photon contribution and criticize the existing methods for such a separation.
The two-photon decay mode of hydrogenic atoms from an arbitrary state (n1{n}_{1}n1​, l1{l}_{1}l1​, m1{m}_{1}m1​) to an arbitrary state (n2{n}_{2}n2​, l2{l}_{2}l2​, m2{m}_{2}m2​) is studied within the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. In the dipole approximation, these decay rates, which involve infinite summation over intermediate states, are derived exactly via a general second-order matrix element obtained by Kelsey and Macek and an implicit technique introduced by Dalgarno and Lewis. The results are expressed in terms of hypergeometric functions. For transitions ${n}_{1}s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{n}_{2}s$, our results reduce to those of Klarsfeld whose starting point is the Coulomb Green's function. For transitions to the ground state, an alternative expression involving a simple one-dimensional integral is presented. The decay rate of the 2s2s2s metastable state of atomic hydrogen is calculated as an illustration of the method. The result, $\frac{1}{\ensuremath{\tau}}=8.2284$ ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, agrees with Klarsfeld. For transitions of ${n}_{1}s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$ and ${n}_{1}d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s ({n}_{1}\ensuremath{\ge}3)$, the transition rates exhibit interesting and unexpected structures. In particular, "zeros" are found in the two-photon emission spectrum indicating that two-photon emission is not possible at certain frequencies. Physically, these "zeros" are the result of destructive interference between the radiating dipole terms associated with the sum over intermediate states. In addition to the emission spectrum the expected coincidence signal between two detectors monitoring the two photons simultaneously emitted during a two-photon transition is calculated as a function of the angle between the detectors. The angular distribution for the ${n}_{1}d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$ transitions is shown to be significantly different from the ${n}_{1}s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$ transitions. Finally, a possible experiment is suggested to test the results presented in this paper.
In this paper, we extend to three-photon radiative transitions in hydrogenic ions our fully relativistic multipole approach [Z. Bona et al., Phys. Rev. A 89, 022514 (2014)], which has proven so far to yield extremely accurate results for two-photon emission processes. Closed-form formulas of double and single differential frequency distributions as well as total emission probabilities are derived for arbitrary multipole channels by using the Dirac-Coulomb Sturmian functions of the first order. Two cases of atomic systems are considered in the study, namely, ions with a spinless nucleus and those with a nonzero nuclear spin to check the validity of the Bose-Einstein statistics for three-photon emission investigated by Zalialiutdinov et al. [J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 49, 055001 (2016)]. In an effort to assess relativistic effects and the influence of the negative spectrum of the set of Dirac-Coulomb Sturmians, we formulate two nonrelativistic schemes that involve Schr\"odinger-Coulomb Sturmians, a transition operator with retardation, on one hand, and a transition operator in the long wavelength approximation, on the other hand. An application of these theories is made for the relativistic and nonrelativistic atomic transitions $2{s}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1/2}, 2{p}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1/2}, 2{p}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2{s}_{1/2}$ and $2s\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s, 2p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1s$, respectively, with nuclear charge ranging from 1 to 100. Some of our numerical values are compared with the scarce data available in the literature and they enable us to draw inferences as to the improvements obtained with our approach, while the others are additional results that we provide as a further step for more investigations of three-photon decays.
One- and two-photon transitions in the hydrogen atom are analytically evaluated in the absence and in the presence of an external electric field. The emission probabilities are different for the hydrogen and anti-hydrogen atoms due to the existence of contributions, linear in electric field. The magnitude of these contributions is evaluated within the nonrelativistic limit. The Coulomb Green function method is applied. Different nonrelativistic "forms" for the decay probabilities in combination with different gauge choices are considered. The three-photon E1E1E1 2p-1s transition probability is also evaluated and possible applications of the results are discussed.
The hyperfine levels for the ground state of hydrogen are normally connected by magnetic dipole transitions. However, for astrophysical applications, it may be that two-photon electric dipole processes are also important over cosmological distances. This thesis sets up a general mathematical formalism for the calculation of two-photon processes within the hyperfine structure of an atom with spin 1/21/21/2, and applies it to the ground state of hydrogen. Rates are calculated for both spontaneous emission and absorption of radiation. Due to an extraordinary degree of cancellation in the matrix elements, the rates turn out to be too small to have a significant impact on astrophysical processes involving the absorption and emission of radiation. The results are nevertheless important in reducing the uncertainty due to possible contributions from these processes. Other two-photon processes involving Raman scattering are also considered and the relevant cross sections calculated. The calculations of the decay rate, absorption coefficient and Raman scattering cross section are extended to heavier hydrogenic ions as a function of the nuclear charge ZZZ, using an approximate interpolation formula for the hyperfine splitting in the ground state. Results are presented for the hydrogenlike ions from He+^++ to Pb81+^{81+}81+. Modifications for the case of isotopes with a nuclear spin greater than 1/21/21/2 are briefly considered