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Physical Review A

Comment on ‘‘Elastic scattering of hydrogen atoms at low temperatures’’

Eite Tiesinga

Published Dec 1, 1993• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In a recent paper Jamieson, Dalgarno, and Yukich [Phys. Rev. A 46, 6956 (1992)] discuss the elastic scattering of two hydrogen atoms at very low collision energies. They use as an input to their numerical calculations the potential-energy curve of the $^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}$ state obtained from a configuration-interaction (CI) calculation and report a triplet scattering length that is much larger than found previously. We show that the difference is a consequence of the neglect of a systematic shift in the b $^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}$ curve. Furthermore, we show that by taking the systematic shift into account, the scattering length of the CI potential reduces to a value of (1.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)${\mathit{a}}_{0}$, which is in agreement with previous results.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.48.4801

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Potential Scattering and Spin-Exchange Cross Sections in Atomic Hydrogen at Very Low Energies

Naoto Koyama, James C. Baird

Potential scattering and spin-exchange scattering cross sections in the energy range from 10 -3 cm -1 to 100 cm -1 have been calculated numerically for hydrogen atoms in collision based on the most accurate Kołos-Woniewicz adiabatic potentials available at present. The scattering lengths for the singlet and triplet states are calculated to be a 0 s =0.595 a.u. and a 0 t =1.34 a.u., respectively. The quasi-bound state with ν=14 and l =4 is found to be at E =1.675 cm -1 above the dissociation limit. The thermally averaged spin-exchange cross section has the low temperature limit \barσ ex (0 K)=0.982 A 2 with a minimum \barσ ex (2.5 K)=0.329 A 2 .

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan•Mar 15, 1986•16 citations
In a recent paper Jamieson, Dalgarno, and Yukich [Phys. Rev. A 46, 6956 (1992)] discuss the elastic scattering of two hydrogen atoms at very low collision energies. They use as an input to their numerical calculations the potential-energy curve of the 3\ensuremathΣu+^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}3\ensuremathΣu+​ state obtained from a configuration-interaction (CI) calculation and report a triplet scattering length that is much larger than found previously. We show that the difference is a consequence of the neglect of a systematic shift in the b 3\ensuremathΣu+^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}3\ensuremathΣu+​ curve. Furthermore, we show that by taking the systematic shift into account, the scattering length of the CI potential reduces to a value of (1.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)a0{\mathit{a}}_{0}a0​, which is in agreement with previous results.
The elastic scattering of two hydrogen atoms interacting at very small energies is explored numerically using the most accurate potential-energy curves available for the X $^{1}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathrm{g}}^{+}$ and $^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}$ states of H2{\mathrm{H}}_{2}H2​. The scattering lengths and low-temperature-averaged cross sections are determined and compared with previous calculations. The scattering lengths are 0.41a0{\mathit{a}}_{0}a0​ for the singlet case and 1.91a0{\mathit{a}}_{0}a0​ for the triplet. The predicted total triplet cross section at 2 K is 5.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}15}$ cm2{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}cm2 but it could be lower, at 4.8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}15}$ cm2{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}cm2, with a different fit to the triplet potential between 12a0{\mathit{a}}_{0}a0​ and 15a0{\mathit{a}}_{0}a0​. A more accurate triplet-state potential is needed at these separations.
In this Comment, we reanalyze the experiments on the collision frequency shift of the b-c and a-d hyperfine transitions in three-dimensional atomic hydrogen in the presence of, respectively, a and b-state atoms. Accurate consideration of the symmetry of the spatial and spin part of the diatomic wavefunction yields the difference a_T-a_S=0.30(5) Åbetween the triplet and singlet s-wave scattering lengths of hydrogen atoms. This corrects the factor-of two error of the commented work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 263003 (2008)].
The interaction between atoms behaves as $\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\alpha}{/r}^{n}$ at large distances and, owing to the large reduced mass \ensuremath{\mu} of the collision pair, allows a semiclassical treatment within the potential well. As a result, the low-energy scattering is governed by two large parameters: the asymptotic parameter $\ensuremath{\gamma}=\sqrt{2\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\alpha}}/\ensuremath{\Elzxh}\ensuremath{\gg}{a}_{0}^{(n\ensuremath{-}2)/2}$ (a0{a}_{0}a0​ is the Bohr radius) and the semiclassical zero-energy phase $\ensuremath{\Phi}\ensuremath{\gg}1.$ In our previous work [Phys. Rev. A 48, 546 (1993)] we obtained an analytical expression for the scattering length a,a,a, which showed that it has 75% preference for positive values for n=6,n=6,n=6, characteristic of collisions between ground-state neutral atoms. In this paper we calculate the effective range and show that it is a function of a,a,a, ${r}_{e}{=F}_{n}\ensuremath{-}{G}_{n}{/a+H}_{n}{/a}^{2},$ where Fn,{F}_{n},Fn​, Gn,{G}_{n},Gn​, and Hn{H}_{n}Hn​ depend only on \ensuremath{\gamma}. Thus, we know the sss-phase shift at low momenta $k\ensuremath{\ll}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{\ensuremath{-}2/(n\ensuremath{-}2)}$ from the expansion $k\mathrm{cot}{\ensuremath{\delta}}_{0}\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{-}1/a+\frac{1}{2}{r}_{e}{k}^{2}.$ At $k\ensuremath{\gg}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{\ensuremath{-}2/(n\ensuremath{-}2)}$ the phase shift is obtained semiclassically as ${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{0}=\ensuremath{\Phi}+\ensuremath{\pi}/4\ensuremath{-}{I}_{n}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{2/n}{k}^{(n\ensuremath{-}2)/n},$ where ${I}_{n}=[n/(n\ensuremath{-}2)]\ensuremath{\Gamma}((n\ensuremath{-}1)/n)\ensuremath{\Gamma}((n+2)/2n)/\sqrt{\ensuremath{\pi}}.$ Therefore, \ensuremath{\gamma} and \ensuremath{\Phi} determine the sss-wave atomic scattering in a wide range of momenta, as well as the positions of upper bound states of the diatomic molecule.
Accurate scattering lengths and effective ranges for hydrogen atomic collisions are determined from effective range theory. The precise ab initio b3Σ+u potential energy curve values of H2 calculated by Kolos and Wolniewicz and C6, C8, C10 long-range expansion coefficients are used in obtaining accurate representation of the two-body interaction potential. The s-wave scattering length obtained for this potential (A =1/33455 ao) is used to calculate the zero temperature energy as a function of density of electron spin-polarized ("spin-aligned") atomic hydrogen (H+) using previous many-body perturbation theory results for bosons. Neglecting small potential shape dependent terms, one obtains E/N (energy per particle ) as a function of density, which may be compared with similar results obtained from Monte-Carlo or variational calculations. The scattering lengths and effective ranges for the other hydrogen isotopic systems are also presented. It is shown that the first bound state for the b3Σ+u potential (within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation) only exists for a hypothetical isotopic species with mass larger than a value m = 3.258176 g/mole (where the scattering length becomes infinite). In terms of the quantum parameter, η ≡ [MATH]2/ (2µεσ2), two-body binding occurs in the b3Σ+u potential only for η < 0.17094. The second order liquid-to-gas transition (corresponding to the onset of infinite-body binding) occurs at the accurately determined critical value of the quantum parameter ηCB = 0.43891. This corresponds to zero scattering length.
Potential scattering and spin-exchange scattering cross sections in the energy range from 10 -3 cm -1 to 100 cm -1 have been calculated numerically for hydrogen atoms in collision based on the most accurate Kołos-Woniewicz adiabatic potentials available at present. The scattering lengths for the singlet and triplet states are calculated to be a 0 s =0.595 a.u. and a 0 t =1.34 a.u., respectively. The quasi-bound state with ν=14 and l =4 is found to be at E =1.675 cm -1 above the dissociation limit. The thermally averaged spin-exchange cross section has the low temperature limit \barσ ex (0 K)=0.982 A 2 with a minimum \barσ ex (2.5 K)=0.329 A 2 .