The use of oscillator-strength sum rules for evaluating the angular-momentum dependence of the blackbody-radiation-induced broadening and shift of Rydberg-state energy levels

Abstract

First evaluations of the blackbody-radiation (BBR)-induced shift and broadening of highly excited Rydberg states were based on the account of only the first term of the expansion for the Planck’s distribution in powers of the ratio of the BBR-photon energy to the environmental thermal energy. The corresponding asymptotic expression for the shift is proportional to a sum rule for the oscillator strengths, which is identical for all states, independently of their principal and angular-momentum quantum numbers. The broadening appeared proportional to the sum of the oscillator-strength first moments, which is dependent on only the principal quantum number, being independent of the state’s angular momentum. In this article, we demonstrate that the account of higher-order terms of the Planck’s distribution expansion provides corrections revealing the dependence of asymptotic shift and broadening on the Rydberg-state principal and angular-momentum quantum numbers. The strongest corrections are observed for states with low angular momenta, in agreement with earlier performed numerical calculations. Sum rules for higher moments of oscillator strengths are used for evaluating the corrections for the BBR-induced broadening and shift of Rydberg-state energy levels in neutral atoms and ions of arbitrary nuclear charge Z.