Hydrogen atom moving across a magnetic field

Abstract

A hydrogen atom moving across a magnetic field is considered in a wide region of magnitudes of magnetic field and atom momentum. We solve the Schr\"odinger equation of the system numerically using an imaginary time method and find wave functions of the lowest states of atom. We calculate the energy and the mean electron-nucleus separation as a function of atom momentum and magnetic field. All the results obtained could be summarized as a phase diagram on the ``atom-momentum -- magnetic-field'' plane. There are transformations of wave-function structure at critical values of atom momentum and magnetic field that result in a specific behavior of dependencies of energy and mean interparticle separation on the atom momentum $P.$ We discuss a transition from the Zeeman regime to the high magnetic field regime. A qualitative analysis of the complicated behavior of wave functions vs $P$ based on the effective potential examination is given. We analyze a sharp transition at the critical momentum from a Coulomb-type state polarized due to atom motion to a strongly decentered (Landau-type) state at low magnetic fields. A crossover occurring at intermediate magnetic fields is also studied.