Positive-energy spectra of atomic hydrogen in a magnetic field with an adiabatic-basis-expansion method

TL;DR

This paper compares different theoretical methods for calculating the photoionization spectra of atomic hydrogen in strong magnetic fields, demonstrating that the adiabatic-basis-expansion method yields more accurate results at low field strengths.

Contribution

The study provides a detailed comparison between the adiabatic-basis-expansion method and previous coupled-channel theory, improving the accuracy of positive-energy spectra calculations in strong magnetic fields.

Findings

Adiabatic-basis-expansion method outperforms other approaches at low field strengths.

The paper clarifies discrepancies in existing spectral data.

Enhanced understanding of hydrogen photoionization in magnetic fields.

Abstract

The problem of photoionization of atomic hydrogen in a white-dwarf-strength magnetic field is revisited to understand the existing discrepancies in the positive-energy spectra obtained by a variety of theoretical approaches reported in the literature. Oscillator strengths for photoionization are calculated with the adiabatic-basis-expansion method developed by Mota-Furtado and O'Mahony [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 76}, 053405 (2007)]. A comparative study is performed between the adiabatic-basis-expansion method and our previously developed coupled-channel theory [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 94}, 033422 (2016)]. A detailed analysis of the positive-energy spectra obtained here and those from other theoretical approaches shows that the adiabatic-basis-expansion method can produce more accurate positive-energy spectra than other reported approaches for low field strengths.