Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics
Influence of an external field on the decay of coherently excited n=2 states of the hydrogen atom
Stanisław Chwirot, S. Łęgowski, J. A. Slevin, Jarosław Zaremba
Abstract
The authors analyse the validity of the approximation of neglecting the 2 2 S 1/2 -2 2 P 3/2 coupling in the description of the fluorescence from the n=2 states of hydrogen atoms decaying in the presence of an external electric field. The results show the inadequacy of such an approach and point to the need for a re-interpretation of some previously reported experimental values of the state multipoles of the collisionally excited n=2 hydrogen atoms.