Scaled energy spectra of non-hydrogenic Rydberg atoms in a magnetic field

Abstract

We present a new method for computing the spectrum of one-electron Rydberg states of non-hydrogenic atoms in a magnetic field, at constant scaled energy. It is based on a variant of the R-matrix method allowing the computation of many energy levels in a single diagonalization. The results are compared with recently obtained high-resolution experimental spectra of the helium atom. The relation between peaks observed in the Fourier transform of scaled spectra and classical closed orbits is discussed. We show the existence of 'ghost' peaks not corresponding to any closed orbit, and also of peaks existing only in non-hydrogenic spectra, due the scattering of the electron by the ionic core.