Dependence of the scattering length for hydrogen atoms on effective mass

Jamieson, M.J., Cheung, A.S.C. and Ouerdane, H. (2010) Dependence of the scattering length for hydrogen atoms on effective mass. European Physical Journal D, 56(2), pp. 181-188. (doi: 10.1140/epjd/e2009-00280-8)

Abstract

The possibility that the non-adiabatic correction to the scattering length of a pair of hydrogen atoms interacting via the ground state molecular potential, X¹Σg ⁺, of H2 could be made by replacing the mass of each nucleus by a different effective mass is explored. The Born-Oppenheimer potential with adiabatic, relativistic and radiative corrections is used in calculations of the scattering lengths and the mass-dependent shifts of the rotationless vibrational levels with fixed and varying effective masses. The shifts are compared with established values and it is demonstrated that the semi-classical formula for the scattering length accounts well for the effect of changing the mass. A perturbing potential that is equivalent to a change in mass is derived and it is compared to a published local non-adiabatic potential.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Jamieson, Dr Michael
• Authors: Jamieson, M.J., Cheung, A.S.C., and Ouerdane, H.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: European Physical Journal D
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• ISSN: 1434-6060
• Published Online: 06 November 2009