Numerical Evaluation of the Lamb Shift in Hydrogen

Author

Ulrich D. Jentschura, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Peter J. Mohr
Gerhard Soff

Abstract

A reliable and precise theoretical understanding of quantum electrodynamic effects in atoms is of crucial importance for the determination of fundamental constants from precision electromagnetic measurements. The numerical evaluation of self-energy corrections in hydrogen-like ions with small atomic number Z entails severe loss of numerical significance at intermediate stages of the calculation and slow convergence in the sum over intermediate angular momenta. We present an evaluation of the scaled self-energy function F(Zα) at Z=1 with a relative uncertainty of 2 x 10^-9.

Recommended Citation

U. D. Jentschura et al., "Numerical Evaluation of the Lamb Shift in Hydrogen," IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 186 - 188, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Apr 1999.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1109/19.769559

Department(s)

Physics

Keywords and Phrases

Fundamental Constants; Quantum Electrodynamics; Relativistic And QED Effects

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0018-9456

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1999 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Apr 1999