Applicability of the Dirac-Fock method combined with Core Polarization in calculations of alkali atoms

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the core-polarization-corrected Dirac-Fock method within the local Dirac-Hartree-Fock framework for calculating electric dipole polarizabilities and Stark shifts in alkali atoms, comparing results with existing data.

Contribution

It demonstrates the applicability of an enhanced Dirac-Fock method for accurate atomic property calculations, including polarizabilities and Stark shifts, with critical comparison to literature.

Findings

The method provides accurate static scalar and tensor electric dipole polarizabilities.

Calculated blackbody-radiation-induced Stark shifts align well with existing data.

The approach successfully computes the Bethe logarithm for alkali-metal atoms.

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the applicability of the core-polarization-corrected Dirac--Fock method, formulated within the framework of the local Dirac--Hartree--Fock (LDF) potential, for the accurate determination of static scalar and tensor electric dipole polarizabilities. This work presents theoretical values of blackbody-radiation-induced Stark shifts of atomic energy levels. The Dirac--Fock method augmented by core-polarization corrections is employed not only to evaluate these shifts but also to compute the Bethe logarithm for alkali-metal atoms. The results are critically compared with data available in the contemporary literature, and the strengths and limitations of the present approach are discussed.