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African Scientific Reports

Numerical evaluation of energy shifts due to dipole moments interaction in a hydrogen atom

Otor Daniel Abi, Anene Gerald Makuachukwu, Ominyi Daniel Sunday, Peter Ikpe Adoga, Felix Igbasue Ortwer

Published Apr 14, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This study aimed to numerically investigate the impact of dipole-dipole interactions on the energy levels of a hydrogen atom, specifically the energy shift caused by the interaction of the atom's dipole moment with external electric fields. This research involved applying perturbation theory and numerical techniques to quantify the changes in energy levels due to dipole orientations and magnitudes, contributing to a deeper understanding of atomic behavior and its implications in various scientific disciplines. The results presented showed that the wavefunction of the hydrogen atom exhibits degeneracy, especially n=2, n=3 states. This implies that n=2, n=3, have different states but the same energy as a result of the subshells with angular momentum l, which contains 2l+1 distinct state corresponding to positive value of m (magnetic angular momentum quantum number) m=-l±1. The total degeneracy of the energy levels n is caused by n2. We find out that as the orientation of the electron charges (θ,ϕ) change the dipole moment also changes and thus has a perturbing effect on the energy levels of the hydrogen atom leading to a shift in its energy. This is confirmed, as the energy shift increases slightly from the ground state energy function Φ100 to the second exicted state Φ300, while the degeneracy state of Φ310 experiences infinitesimal energy shift above. This is because the probability of the electron been found in the lower energy level is greater than at higher energy level and so it is mostly affected there by energy shift. Also, the dipole moment could increase liberational energy of the atom and thus lead to more excitement even though its impact is quite negative. The outcome of this study could have implications in precision measurements, quantum computing, and the understanding of complex atomic systems.

DOI
10.46481/asr.2026.5.1.417

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This study aimed to numerically investigate the impact of dipole-dipole interactions on the energy levels of a hydrogen atom, specifically the energy shift caused by the interaction of the atom's dipole moment with external electric fields. This research involved applying perturbation theory and numerical techniques to quantify the changes in energy levels due to dipole orientations and magnitudes, contributing to a deeper understanding of atomic behavior and its implications in various scientific disciplines. The results presented showed that the wavefunction of the hydrogen atom exhibits degeneracy, especially n=2, n=3 states. This implies that n=2, n=3, have different states but the same energy as a result of the subshells with angular momentum l, which contains 2l+1 distinct state corresponding to positive value of m (magnetic angular momentum quantum number) m=-l±1. The total degeneracy of the energy levels n is caused by n2. We find out that as the orientation of the electron charges (θ,ϕ) change the dipole moment also changes and thus has a perturbing effect on the energy levels of the hydrogen atom leading to a shift in its energy. This is confirmed, as the energy shift increases slightly from the ground state energy function Φ100 to the second exicted state Φ300, while the degeneracy state of Φ310 experiences infinitesimal energy shift above. This is because the probability of the electron been found in the lower energy level is greater than at higher energy level and so it is mostly affected there by energy shift. Also, the dipole moment could increase liberational energy of the atom and thus lead to more excitement even though its impact is quite negative. The outcome of this study could have implications in precision measurements, quantum computing, and the understanding of complex atomic systems.
The linear Stark effect for the first excited state of the hydrogen atom shows that, in the unperturbed states, the atom has a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of magnitude 3eao (ao is Bohr radius). The EDM is not induce by the external field but is inherent behavior of the atom. But the calculation of quantum mechanics tells us that unperturbed states of hydrogen atom have no EDM! In the effect, two of four states have no energy shift. What are the EDM of the hydrogen atoms in the two states? Quantum mechanics can not answer the problem. The statement that the EDM of the two states is perpendicular to the field only comes from guesses in quantum mechanics. The two problems had puzzled physicists for more than 80 years. By introducing a new parameter this article gives a satisfactory explanation for the effect. Our calculation discovered that, in the unperturbed states, the atoms not only have EDM with 3eao but also can have only three directions of quantization! It is an entirely unexpected discovery. This research is a vital clue that not all is well with quantum mechanics. We prophesy that hydrogen-like atoms, such as K, Rb and Cs atom etc, may have large EDM of the order of magnitude eao in their ground state (see arXiv:0809.4767, arXiv:0810.0770 and arXiv:0810.2026).
Niels Bohr’s model of the hydrogen and hydrogen-like atoms, in which the electron is allowed to revolve in certain circular orbits around the nucleus, was extended by Arnold Sommerfeld to allow for the possibility of elliptical orbits. Each elliptical orbit was constrained by two quantization conditions specified by a positive integer nφ and a non-negative integer nr. If, in the presence of the attractive Coulomb force between the electron and the nucleus, the dynamics of the atom were taken to be governed by the Newtonian laws of motion, the energy Ɛ of the two-particle system was found to be a function of the positive integer n = nr + nφ. The atomic energy levels thus exhibited an n-fold degeneracy, which would be lifted in the presence of external electric or magnetic fields, thus accounting for the fine-structure of the spectral lines emitted by the atom—phenomena observed, respectively, in the Stark effect and the Zeeman effect. Sommerfeld also examined the behavior of his elliptical orbits by allowing the revolving electron to obey Einstein’s relativistic dynamics. In this case, the energy-level degeneracies were lifted (even in the absence of external perturbations), and the elliptical orbits were found to precess around the nucleus—similarly to the precession of, say, the orbit of the planet Mercury around the Sun. What is astonishing about Sommerfeld’s relativistic expression of the energy Ɛ as a function of nφ and nr is that it is precisely the same expression as obtained for hydrogen and hydrogen-like atoms from Dirac’s equation, which came more than a decade later. Recall that the spin of the electron was not yet discovered when Sommerfeld developed his model, and that in Dirac’s fully-relativistic quantum mechanics, the spectral fine-structure arises from the coupling of the electron’s spin to its orbital motion. The present paper provides a streamlined yet detailed account of Sommerfeld’s elliptical orbits in hopes of bringing about a deeper appreciation for the miraculous coincidence of Sommerfeld’s result with that derived from Dirac’s equation.
We consider a multilevel atom such as an hydrogen atom, interacting with the quantum electromagnetic field, in the dressed ground state of the interacting system. We evaluate by perturbation theory the dressed ground state of the system, within dipole approximation; we investigate and review the effect of the self-dressing of the atom on several field and atomic observables. Specifically, we obtain general expressions of the renormalized electric and magnetic field fluctuations and energy densities around the atom, and analyze their scaling with the distance from the atom, obtaining approximated expressions in the so-called near and far zone. We also investigate nonlocal spatial field correlations around the atom. We stress how the quantities we evaluate can be probed through two- and three-body nonadditive Casimir-Polder dispersion interactions. We also investigate the effect of the self-dressing, i.e. of the virtual transitions occurring in the dressed ground state, on atomic observables, for example the average potential energy of the electron in the nuclear field; this also allows us to obtain a more fundamental quantum basis for the Welton interpretation of the Lamb shift of a ground-state hydrogen atom, in terms of the atomic self-dressing processes.
Degeneracy of energy levels of excited hydrogen atoms is not fully lifted by external perpendicular electric and magnetic fields in the first order of perturbation theory. Within the submanifold of residual degeneracy the levels splitting is governed by the second-order effects. The related classical electron trajectories exhibit instabilities characterized by the Lyapunov exponent. The present study establishes quantum mechanical implications of these instabilities. In particular, we derive from a quantum framework a simple analytical approximation for the Lyapunov exponent. The classical instabilities are linked to the presence of a diabatic quasistationary state in the quantum mechanical problem. Its meaning is elucidated by considering a related non-stationary quantum system with time-dependent field parameter. Some of the state-to-state transition probabilities are approximately expressed via Lyapunov exponents. Exact formulae for these probabilities are derived in the framework of multistate generalization of the Landau–Zener model. Non-adiabatic transitions are interpreted in terms of analytical properties of adiabatic potential curves.
The theory of collisions of Rydberg atoms with rare-gas atoms is generalized to include the effects of an applied static electric field. Two effects occur. First, the field causes the states to split, and the increased energy separations lead to a decrease in the inelastic cross sections. Second, there is a change in the form of the wave functions, because the various Stark states in the field have electron charge distributions that may be localized in very different regions of space. The present work focuses on this second effect. With the description of the initial and final Stark states of the Rydberg atom by the proper electronic wave functions obtained in parabolic coordinates, cross sections are obtained for a variety of specific transitions of Rydberg atoms (n=10,15,and20n=10, 15, \mathrm{and} 20n=10,15,and20) caused by collisions. The calculations are strictly valid for hydrogen, but exhibit general features that are expected to apply to other Rydberg atoms as well. The results show a dramatic effect on the cross section for particular transitions depending on the degree of overlap of the initial and final charge distributions. In addition, it is observed that transitions are favored that involve small changes in the azimuthal quantum number mmm. The origin of this tendency is discussed.
Electric dipole moments of H(n=2) induced in ${\mathrm{H}}^{+\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$He and H-He collisions are investigated at incident energies of 5--25 keV. For these collision systems, an energy-dependent forward-backward asymmetry (dipole moment) of the emitted Lyman-\ensuremath{\alpha} radiation as a function of an external electric field is observed. In ${\mathrm{H}}^{+\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$He collisions, the measured dipole moment is positive, corresponding to an electron trailing behind the proton. The same analysis applied to the H-He system shows the electron riding in front of the proton. The observed differences between H and H+{\mathrm{H}}^{+}H+ impact are partly explained with the help of a simple model which assumes different cross sections for excitation into the different Stark states.