Long-range potentials, including retardation, for the interaction of two alkali-metal atoms

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Physical Review A; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.50.3096· OSTI ID:7032538

Marinescu, M; Babb, J F; Dalgarno, A ^[1]

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1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States)

The retarded long-range potentials for the dispersion interaction arising from induced multipole moments of two ground-state alkali-metal atoms are evaluated as functions of the separation [ital R] for Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs. Accurate atomic properties, determined using published model potentials, are utilized. Values for the potentials are given out over a wide range of [ital R]. Results for H are also given. For small [ital R] the results reproduce the accepted values for the unretarded dispersion dipole-dipole (van der Waals), dipole-quadrupole, quadrupole-quadrupole, and dipole-octupole coefficients, while for [ital R][r arrow][infinity] the Casimir-Polder potentials, due to retardation or effects due to the finite speed of light, are obtained. The overlap between the retardation potentials and terms arising from the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian is explored.

• OSTI ID: 7032538
• Journal Information: Physical Review A; (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review A; (United States) Vol. 50:4; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

664300* -- Atomic & Molecular Physics-- Collision Phenomena-- (1992-)
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ALKALI METALS
ATOM COLLISIONS
ATOM-ATOM COLLISIONS
COLLISIONS
DISTANCE
ELEMENTS
INTERACTION RANGE
METALS
POTENTIALS
VAN DER WAALS FORCES