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 Stark effects of the Rydberg states in the alkaline-earth atoms are studied theoretically. Using a method similar to the treatment of alkali atoms, the properties of the Stark states of Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba atoms in the regions far away from the perturbers are investigated. The Stark maps for Mg ( n = 16, M = 0), Ca ( n = 10, M = 0), Sr ( n = 12, M = 0) and Ba ( n = 13, | M | = 0, 1) are presented. Topics such as the general methods of calculation, the treatment of fine structure and the structure of level anti-crossings are discussed. The comparison between the theoretical and experimental Stark maps is satisfactory.
The lowest three tune-out wavelengths of the four alkaline-earth-metal atoms Be, Mg, Ca, and Sr are determined from tabulations of matrix elements produced from large first-principles calculations. The tune-out wavelengths are located near the wavelengths for the
3P1o and
1P1o excitations. The measurement of the tune-out wavelengths could be used to establish a quantitative relationship between the oscillator strength of the transition leading to existence of the tune-out wavelength and the dynamic polarizability of the atom at the tune-out frequency. The longest tune-out wavelengths for Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Yb are 454.9813, 457.2372, 657.446, 689.200, 788.875, and 553.00 nm, respectively.