Theoretical determination of polarizability and magnetic susceptibility of neon

TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed theoretical calculation of neon's polarizability and magnetic susceptibility, including various quantum effects, and compares the results with experimental data, highlighting the most accurate dispersion coefficients to date.

Contribution

The study offers the most accurate theoretical values for neon's dispersion coefficients and includes comprehensive quantum corrections, improving upon previous theoretical and experimental estimates.

Findings

Static polarizability $oldsymbol{eta_0=2.66080(36)}$ a.u.

Dispersion coefficients $oldsymbol{eta_2=2.850(7)}$ and $oldsymbol{eta_4=4.932(14)}$ a.u.

Magnetic susceptibility $oldsymbol{eta_0=-8.484(19) imes 10^{-5}}$ a.u.

Abstract

We report theoretical determination of the dipole polarizability of the neon atom, including its frequency dependence. Corrections for the relativistic, quantum electrodynamics, finite nuclear mass, and finite nuclear size effects are taken into account. We obtain the value $\alpha_0=2.66080(36)$ for the static polarizability, and $\alpha_2=2.850(7)$ and $\alpha_4=4.932(14)$ for the first two polarizability dispersion coefficients (Cauchy moments); all values are in atomic units (a.u.). In the case of static polarizability, our result agrees with the best experimental determination [C. Gaiser and B. Fellmuth, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 123203 (2018)], but our estimated uncertainty is significantly larger. For the dispersion coefficients, the results obtained in this work appear to be the most accurate to date overall compared to published theoretical and experimental data. We also calculated the static magnetic susceptibility of the neon atom, needed to obtain the refractive index of gaseous neon. Our result, $\chi_0 = -8.484(19) \cdot 10^{-5}$ a.u., is about 9% larger in absolute value than the recommended experimental value [CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC Press, 2019, p. 4-145].