The ground state of relativistic ions in the limit of high magnetic fields

TL;DR

This paper investigates the behavior of relativistic one-electron ions in strong magnetic fields, revealing that their ground state energy decreases proportionally to the square root of the magnetic field strength, contrasting with nonrelativistic predictions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the asymptotic behavior of the ground state energy of relativistic ions in high magnetic fields using the pseudorelativistic Brown-Ravenhall operator.

Findings

Ground state energy decreases as √B for high B

Relativistic behavior differs from nonrelativistic models

Applicable for ions with charge Z ≤ 87

Abstract

We consider the pseudorelativistic no-pair Brown-Ravenhall operator for the description of relativistic one-electron ions in a homogeneous magnetic field B. It is shown for central charge not exceeding Z=87 that their ground state energy decreases according to the square root of B as B tends to infinity, in contrast to the nonrelativistic behaviour.