Comment on "Two-photon approximation in the theory of electron recombination in hydrogen" (D. Solovyev and L. Labzowsky, Phys. Rev. A 81, 062509 (2010))

TL;DR

This paper critically examines previous calculations of multi-photon decay rates in hydrogen, correcting significant discrepancies and clarifying implications for cosmological recombination processes.

Contribution

It provides corrected decay rate calculations for hydrogen's 3p and 4s levels, addressing inaccuracies in prior cascade approximation results.

Findings

Corrected decay rates differ by up to an order of magnitude from previous results.

Clarified the impact of these corrections on cosmological recombination models.

Identified specific channels where previous approximations were inaccurate.

Abstract

The results for the total multi-photon decay rates of the 3p and 4s levels of hydrogen, presented by D. Solovyev and L. Labzowsky within the cascade approximation, are revisited. The corrected results for certain decay channels differ from original ones of those authors sometimes by order of magnitude. Some aspects with respect to the cosmological recombination process are clarified.