It is shown that algebraic techniques based on the Lie algebra so(4,2) provide efficient tools for evaluating Lamb shifts and radiative decay rates for hydrogenic energy eigenstates as they systematically exploit the intrinsic symmetry of the hydrogenic Hamiltonian. As a main result in lowest order perturbation theory with respect to the fine-structure constant integral representations are derived for the complex-valued energy shifts of hydrogen-like ions from which Lamb shifts and radiative decay rates can be evaluated in a unified way, thus generalizing a recently discussed algebraic approach of Maclay. In order to exemplify the usefulness of this algebraic approach numerical results are presented for Lamb shifts and radiative decay rates which transcend the dipole approximation and contain the dipole approximation as a limiting case.
It is shown that algebraic techniques based on the Lie algebra so(4,2) provide efficient tools for evaluating Lamb shifts and radiative decay rates for hydrogenic energy eigenstates as they systematically exploit the intrinsic symmetry of the hydrogenic Hamiltonian. As a main result in lowest order perturbation theory with respect to the fine-structure constant integral representations are derived for the complex-valued energy shifts of hydrogen-like ions from which Lamb shifts and radiative decay rates can be evaluated in a unified way, thus generalizing a recently discussed algebraic approach of Maclay. In order to exemplify the usefulness of this algebraic approach numerical results are presented for Lamb shifts and radiative decay rates which transcend the dipole approximation and contain the dipole approximation as a limiting case.
A general perturbation procedure is described for writing down the contributions to any order for the probability of a quantum system described by a time-independent Hamiltonian making a transition from an arbitrary initial state to an arbitrary final state. The results are expressed in terms of certain propagators which involve continued fractions, so that some processes are summed to all orders. The general theory is then applied to a single multilevel atom interacting with any number of modes of the electromagnetic field in the electric dipole approximation. The fundamental theory is considered primarily but a detailed discussion is given of spontaneous and stimulated emission. Expressions for the lineshape are derived incorporating the generalized Lamb shifts and damping constants.
This paper presents a quantum-field-theoretic formulation of the hydrogen 2p → 1s Lyman-α transition, replacing the semiclassical Bohr–Maxwell description with the modern framework of quantum electrodynamics. The initial and final bound-electron states are described by the Dirac equation in the proton’s Coulomb field, with the Schrödinger equation recovered as the leading nonrelativistic limit. The electromagnetic radiation field is quantized, and photon emission is generated by the QED interaction Hamiltonian. The transition amplitude is evaluated from the atomic current and quantized electromagnetic field, leading through Fermi’s golden rule to the spontaneous-emission rate and Einstein coefficient A₂₁. Energy and momentum conservation require the emitted photon to carry the atomic transition energy, including the small correction associated with proton recoil. At leading order, the Lyman-α photon has ΔE ≈ 10.2 eV, ν ≈ 2.47 × 10¹⁵ Hz, and λ ≈ 121.6 nm. In the electric-dipole approximation, the field-theoretic calculation reduces to the standard matrix element of the interaction Hamiltonian H_int = −μ·E, thereby connecting QED directly to the transition dipole moment, oscillator strength, Einstein A coefficient, and radiative lifetime. The calculation reproduces the accepted numerical results for hydrogen while identifying their origin in the coupling between the quantized electron field and the quantized electromagnetic field. The paper also explains how classical electrodynamics is recovered from QED. Maxwell’s equations govern the expectation values of the electromagnetic-field operators in the appropriate classical-field limit, particularly for coherent states containing many photons. A single spontaneously emitted Lyman-α photon, however, remains a genuinely quantum excitation rather than a classical electromagnetic wave. Leading corrections beyond the nonrelativistic Coulomb approximation are then considered, including relativistic fine structure, the Lamb shift, and atomic recoil. The resulting treatment provides a rigorous bridge from the historical Bohr model and Schrödinger wave mechanics to Dirac theory and full QED, verifying the Lyman-α energy, frequency, wavelength, transition probability, and radiative decay structure within a unified quantum-field framework.
The stimulated radiative corrections (or ac-Stark shift, or light shift...) of the energy levels of a hydrogenic atom irradiated by an intense, nonresonant, monomode laser field, are evaluated within the framework of the time-dependent perturbation theory, up to and including fourth order. The calculation is performed by using a Sturmian representation of the Coulomb Green's function. Whenever it is possible, comparison is made with other results, and several limiting cases are considered. If the laser frequency $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$, one recovers the results of the dc-Stark effect. If $2\ensuremath{\omega}$ becomes larger than the ionization energy of the atomic state considered, the fourth-order level shift acquires an imaginary part which may be connected, via an extension of the optical theorem, to the two-photon ionization cross section. We point out also the difficulties encountered, when trying to get sensible estimates from partial summation of the infinite sums entering the perturbative expression of the fourth-order amplitudes. Finally, the order of magnitude of these various corrections is discussed.
This paper presents a unified pedagogical derivation of the hydrogen atom spectrum and radiative transition structure by organizing three historically separate frameworks into a single mathematical chain: Schrödinger’s non-relativistic wave mechanics, Sommerfeld’s relativistic fine-structure theory, and Maxwell’s classical electrodynamics. The analysis shows how Bohr energy levels arise as the non-relativistic bound-state limit, how Sommerfeld-type fine structure appears when relativistic corrections are included, and how Maxwell radiation theory connects naturally to photon emission rates through transition dipole moments and spontaneous decay constants. The completed framework is advanced by adding the necessary modern ingredients of spin, Lorentz covariance, minimal electromagnetic coupling, and field quantization. With these additions, the chain reaches the Dirac equation coupled to the quantized electromagnetic field, the standard foundation of quantum electrodynamics. The resulting Scretching Master Equation is presented as a structured bridge from introductory quantum mechanics to QED, linking energy eigenvalues, angular-frequency scaling, transition dipole strength μ², spontaneous emission Γ = A₂₁, lifetime τ, and photon radiation into one coherent derivational system.
We compare the derivation of the dynamic Stark shift of hydrogenic energy levels in a classical framework with an adiabatically damped laser-atom interaction, which is equivalent to the Gell-Mann-Low-Sucher formula, and a treatment based on time-independent perturbation theory, with a second-quantized laser-atom dipole interaction Hamiltonian. Our analysis applies to a laser that excites a two-photon transition in atomic hydrogen or in a hydrogenlike ion with low nuclear charge number. Our comparisons serve to demonstrate why the dynamic Stark shift may be interpreted as a stimulated radiative correction and illustrates connections between the two derivations. The simplest of the derivations is the fully quantized approach. The classical and the second-quantized treatment are shown to be equivalent in the limit of large photon numbers.