The higher-order black-body radiation shift of atomic energy-levels

TL;DR

This paper revisits the higher-order black-body radiation shifts in atomic energy levels using advanced quantum electrodynamics methods, revealing significant relativistic corrections especially in highly ionized or cold systems.

Contribution

It provides a detailed calculation of relativistic corrections to BBR shifts using the S-matrix and NRQED approaches, highlighting their potential importance in specific atomic systems.

Findings

Relativistic correction to one-loop BBR shift is larger than the leading term.

Two-loop thermal and virtual mixing corrections are very small and hard to detect.

Higher-order corrections may dominate in highly ionized or cold atomic systems.

Abstract

The one-loop correction and two-loop contribution to black-body radiation (BBR) shift are restudied. The S-matrix approach and nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics (NRQED) are adopted in finite temperature case. The relativistic correction to one-loop BBR-shift has a $(Z\alpha)^{2}\alpha T^2/m$-order contribution. In the two-loop case, the pure thermal (real) photon part is too tiny to be detected; while the corrections induced by the thermal and virtual mixing diagram are at $(Z\alpha)^{2}\alpha^2 T^2/m$ order. We calculate the relativistic correction to one-loop BBR-shift in the ground state of hydrogen and ionized helium, which is larger than the leading term. As the leading term is proportional to $T^4/Z^4$. We estimate these higher-order corrections may be larger than the leading term, when the system is a highly ionized (large $Z$) or a cold (small $T$) one.