Dipole Excitation of Dipositronium

TL;DR

This paper calculates the energy difference between ground and excited states of dipositronium, including relativistic effects, and predicts a significant electric dipole transition that can be observed experimentally to understand this exotic molecule.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed evaluation of the P-wave excited state energy and decay mechanisms of dipositronium, including relativistic and radiative corrections.

Findings

Energy interval between states: 0.1815867(8) a.u.

P-state decay into ground state via electric dipole transition occurs 19% of the time.

Observation of the transition can shed light on the properties of dipositronium.

Abstract

The energy interval between the ground and the P-wave excited states of the recently discovered positronium molecule Ps_2 is evaluated, including the relativistic and the leading logarithmic radiative corrections, E_P-E_S = 0.181 586 7(8) a.u. The P-state, decaying usually via annihilation, is found to decay into the ground state by an electric dipole transition 19 percent of the time. Anticipated observation of this transition will provide insight into this exotic system.