Lamb Shift of 3P and 4P states and the determination of $\alpha$

U. D. Jentschura; G. Soff; P. J. Mohr

doi:10.1103/physreva.56.1739

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Lamb Shift of 3P and 4P states and the determination of $\alpha$

U. D. Jentschura·G. Soff·P. J. Mohr

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Abstract

The fine structure interval of P states in hydrogenlike systems can be determined theoretically with high precision, because the energy levels of P states are only slightly influenced by the structure of the nucleus. Therefore a measurement of the fine structure may serve as an excellent test of QED in bound systems or alternatively as a means of determining the fine structure constant $\alpha$ with very high precision. In this paper an improved analytic calculation of higher-order binding corrections to the one-loop self energy of 3P and 4P states in hydrogen-like systems with low nuclear charge number $Z$ is presented. A comparison of the analytic results to the extrapolated numerical data for high $Z$ ions serves as an independent test of the analytic evaluation. New theoretical values for the Lamb shift of the P states and for the fine structure splittings are given.

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U. D. Jentschura, G. Soff, P. J. Mohr. 2000-07-09. Lamb Shift of 3P and 4P states and the determination of $\alpha$. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.56.1739

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