Apropos to the growing interest in the study of long-range interactions which for their applications in cold atom physics, we have performed theoretical calculation for the two-dipole
C6 and three-dipole
C9 dispersion coefficients involving alkaline-earth atoms with alkaline-earth atoms and alkaline-earth ions. The
C6 and
C9 coefficients are expressed in terms of the dynamic dipole polarizabilities, which are calculated using relativistic methods. Thereafter, the calculated
C6 coefficients for the considered alkaline-earth atoms among themselves are compared with the previously reported values. Due to unavailability of any other earlier theoretical or experimental results, for the
C6 coefficients for alkaline-earth atoms with alkaline-earth ions and the
C9 coefficients, we have performed separate fitting calculations and compared. Our calculations match in an excellent manner with the fitting calculations. We have also reported the oscillator strengths for the leading transitions and static dipole polarizabilities for the ground states of the alkaline-earth ions, i.e., Mg
+, Ca
+, Sr
+, and Ba
+ as well as the alkaline-earth atoms, i.e., Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba. These, when compared with the available experimental results, show good agreement.
The resonance and near-threshold structures of low-energy electron interaction with Sr and Ba atoms have been investigated by carrying out respectively 11-state and 21-state close-coupling calculations within the R-matrix scheme. Part of the core–valence correlation is included by exciting one core electron to the valence orbitals. Results for the low-energy electron scattering and the photodetachment of the negative ions are presented. For Sr, the results show that there is a 2D shape resonance around 0.8 eV above the elastic scattering threshold and a remarkable structure just above the first 3Po excitation threshold. For Ba, two 2D shape resonances are predicted, just above the elastic scattering threshold and the 3D excitation threshold, respectively.
Apropos of the growing interest in the study of long-range interactions for their applications in cold-atom physics, we perform theoretical calculations for the two-dipole
C6 and three-dipole
C9 dispersion coefficients involving alkaline-earth-metal atoms with alkaline-earth-metal atoms and alkaline-earth-metal ions. The
C6 and
C9 coefficients are expressed in terms of the dynamic dipole polarizabilities, which are calculated using relativistic methods. Thereafter, the calculated
C6 coefficients for the considered alkaline-earth-metal atoms are compared with previously reported values. Due to unavailability of any other earlier theoretical or experimental results, for the
C6 coefficients for alkaline-earth-metal atoms with alkaline-earth-metal ions and the
C9 coefficients we perform separate fitting calculations and compare the results. Our calculations match in an excellent manner with the fitting calculations. We also report the oscillator strengths for the leading transitions and static dipole polarizabilities for the ground states of the alkaline-earth-metal ions, i.e.,
Be+,Mg+,Ca+,Sr+, and
Ba+, as well as the alkaline-earth-metal atoms, i.e., Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba. These show good agreement when compared with the available experimental results.
The resonant mechanism of interaction of alkaline-earth atoms having a low electron affinity to Rydberg atoms in circular (l = |m| = n–1) and near-circular states has been studied. To describe the dynamics of resonant processes accompanied by nonadiabatic transitions between ionic and Rydberg covalent terms of a quasimolecule, an approach based on the integration of coupled equations for the probability amplitudes has been developed taking into account the possibility of the decay of an anion in the Coulomb field of the positive ionic core of a highly excited atom. The approach involves the specific features of the problem associated with the structure of the wavefunction of a Rydberg electron in states with high orbital angular momenta l ~ n–1. This approach provides a much more accurate description of the dynamics of electronic transitions at collisions between atoms than that within the modified semiclassical Landau–Zener model. In addition, this approach makes it possible to effectively take into account many channels of the problem. The cross sections for resonant quenching of Rydberg states of the Li(nlm) atom with given principal n, orbital l = n–1, and magnetic m quantum numbers at thermal collisions with the Ca(4s 2) and Sr(5s 2) atoms have been calculated. The dependences of the results on n, m, and angle α between the relative velocity of the atoms and the normal to the plane of the orbit of the Rydberg electron have been obtained. The influence of orientational effects on the efficiency of the collisional destruction of circular and near-circular states has been studied. The results indicate a higher stability of such states to their perturbations by neutral particles as compared to usually studied nl states with low values of l (l ≪ n).
We have performed close-coupling calculations on electron scattering by Ca atoms and on photodetachment of ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ ions by using a six-state
(1S- $^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}$ $^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}$ $^{1}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}$ $^{1}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}$
1P) R-matrix method. We predict a strong interaction between (
4s21S+\ensuremath{\epsilon}d
)2D and (
4s4p3P+\ensuremath{\epsilon}p
)2D channels that gives rise to two relatively broad resonance peaks in the d-wave cross section. In addition, one obtains a strong and a weak peak in the total scattering cross section. Our calculations on the photodetachment cross section of ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ ions yield results that are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental data by allowing for the opening of a detachment channel connected to the excited state
4s4p3P.