Lowest order thermal correction to the hydrogen recombination cross section in presence of blackbody radiation

TL;DR

This paper calculates the lowest-order thermal correction to hydrogen recombination and ionization cross sections due to blackbody radiation using a rigorous QED approach, relevant for laboratory and astrophysical conditions.

Contribution

It provides a novel quantum electrodynamic calculation of thermal effects on hydrogen recombination cross sections at various temperatures.

Findings

Thermal correction significantly affects recombination rates at high temperatures.

The correction varies across different hydrogen states.

Results are applicable to astrophysical and laboratory plasma modeling.

Abstract

In the present paper, the correction due to the thermal interaction of two charges to the recombination and ionization processes for the hydrogen atom is considered. The evaluation is based on a rigorous quantum electrodynamic (QED) approach within the framework of perturbation theory. The lowest-order radiative correction to the recombination/ionization cross-section is examined for a wide range of temperatures corresponding to laboratory and astrophysical conditions. The found thermal contribution is discussed both for specific states and for the total recombination and ionization coefficients.