The retardation long-range potentials between two 1
1S (or 2
3S) helium atoms are calculated. The complex dynamic multipole polarizabilities of 1
1S and 2
3S states of helium are obtained through a variation-perturbation approach with B-spline and Slater-type basis functions in a configuration-interaction scheme. They are used to calculate the retardation long-range potentials. The retardation coefficients are examined. Their relative magnitudes are different for different systems. The possibility of an excited state of helium dimer from the 1
1S--2
3S
He2 state is estimated. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
The scalar and tensor dynamic polarizabilities of the first excited
2P1∕2,3∕2 states of the alkali-metal atoms
Na,
K, and
Rb are calculated using relativistic many-body perturbation theory. Comparison with experimental measurements of the static polarizabilities suggests that the errors in the theoretical predictions do not exceed 1%. The dynamic polarizabilities at imaginary frequencies are employed to calculate the long-range van der Waals coefficients for the interaction of ground-state helium atoms with the excited alkali-metal atoms to a probable error of less than 2%.