Magnetic-field-induced electric quadrupole moment in the ground state of the relativistic hydrogenlike atom: Application of the Sturmian expansion of the generalized Dirac-Coulomb Green function

Abstract

We consider a Dirac one-electron atom placed in a weak, static, uniform magnetic field. We show that, to the first order in the strength $B$ of the perturbing field, the only electric multipole moment induced by the field in the ground state of the atom is the quadrupole one. Using the Sturmian expansion of the generalized Dirac-Coulomb Green function [R. Szmytkowski, J. Phys. B 30 (1997) 825; erratum 30 (1997) 2747], we derive a closed-form expression for the induced electric quadrupole moment. The result contains the generalized hypergeometric function $_{3}F_{2}$ of the unit argument. Earlier calculations by other authors, based on the non-relativistic model of the atom, predicted in the low-field region the quadratic dependence of the induced electric quadrupole moment on $B$.