Electric Dipole Polarizabilities of Hydrogen and Helium Isotopes

TL;DR

This paper calculates the electric dipole polarizabilities of hydrogen and helium isotopes using advanced nuclear interactions, providing insights crucial for atomic transition corrections and comparing with previous experimental-based results.

Contribution

It presents direct calculations of nuclear polarizabilities with modern nuclear potentials, highlighting differences from earlier experimental data-based values.

Findings

Calculated polarizabilities are smaller than previous experimental estimates.

Results improve understanding of nuclear contributions to atomic transition corrections.

Comparison with past data emphasizes the need for direct nuclear calculations.

Abstract

The electric dipole polarizabilities of $^3$H, $^3$He, and $^4$He are calculated directly using the Schr\"odinger equation with the latest generation of two- and three-nucleon interactions. These polarizabilities are necessary in order to obtain accurate nuclear-polarization corrections for transitions involving S-waves in one- and two-electron atoms. Our results are compared to previous results, and it is shown that direct calculations of the electric polarizability of $^4$He using modern nuclear potentials are smaller than published values calculated using experimental photoabsorption data. The status of this topic is assessed in the context of precise measurements of transitions in one- and two-electron atoms.