Ground State Of Helium Research Articles

Effective Faraday interaction between light and nuclear spins of helium-3 in its ground state: a semiclassical study

Abstract We derive the semiclassical evolution equations for a system consisting of helium-3 atoms in the 2 3 S metastable state interacting with a light field far-detuned from the 2 3 S − 2 3 P transition, in the presence of metastability exchange collisions with ground state helium atoms and a static magnetic field. For two configurations, each corresponding to a particular choice of atom–light detuning in which the contribution of either the metastable level F = 1 / 2 or F = 3 / 2 is dominant, we derive a simple model of three coupled collective spins from which we can analytically extract an effective coupling constant between the collective nuclear spin and light. In these two configurations, we compare the predictions of our simplified model with the full model.

Multi-sideband interference structures by high-order photon-induced continuum-continuum transitions in helium

Following up on a previous paper on two-color photoionization of Ar(3p) [D. Bharti , ], we present measurements and calculations for a modified three-sideband (3-SB) version of the reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions (RABBITT) configuration applied to He(1s). The 3-SB RABBITT approach allows us to explore interference effects between pathways involving different orders of transitions within the continuum. The relative differences in the retrieved oscillation phases of the three sidebands provide insights into the continuum-continuum transitions. The ground state of helium has zero orbital angular momentum, which simplifies the analysis of oscillation phases and their angle dependence within the three sidebands. We find qualitative agreement between our experimental results and the theoretical predictions for many cases but also observe some significant quantitative discrepancies. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Parameter Perturbation Method for Helium Ground State Energy Calculation

The ground-state energy is one of the most important pieces of information for research in various fields such as spectroscopy. However, the exact calculation of the value turns out to be challenging, and some approximation methods are needed. This paper is mainly focused on one of the approximations, the parameter perturbation method, and tries to investigate how well the method works to the helium ground-state energy calculation by comparing the approximated results with the experimental result and finding the relationship between the accuracy of the approximation and the orders of perturbation. Other commonly used approximation methods such as perturbation theory and variational principle are also introduced for comparisons and discussions. The paper finds that the parameter perturbation method turns out to be a desirable approach to approximate the helium ground-state energy because the approximated result is relatively easy to calculate and will get extremely close to the experimental result only within a few orders of perturbation. Therefore, the parameter perturbation method could become one of the potential candidates that researchers can use to estimate the energy levels for helium.

Hyperspherical Cluster Model for Bosons: Application to Sub-threshold Halo States in Helium Drops

To describe long-range behaviour of one particle removed from a few- or a many-body system, a hyperspherical cluster model has been developed. It has been applied to the ground and first excited states of helium drops with five, six, eight and ten atoms interacting via a two-body soft gaussian potential. Convergence of the hyperspherical cluster harmonics expansion is studied for binding energies, root-mean-squared radii and overlaps of the wave functions of two helium drops differing by one atom. It was shown that with increasing model space the functional form of such overlaps at large distances converges to the correct asymptotic behaviour. The asymptotic normalization coefficients that quantify the overlaps’ amplitudes in this region are calculated. It was also shown that in the first excited state one helium atom stays far apart from the rest forming a two-body molecule, or a halo. The probability of finding the halo atom in the classically-forbidden region of space depends on the definition of the latter and on the valence atom binding energy. The total norm of the overlap integrals, the spectroscopic factor, represents the number of partitions of a many-body state into a chosen state of the system with one particle removed. The spectroscopic factors have been calculated and their sum rules are discussed giving a further insight into the structure of helium drops.

Photoionization of helium atom embedded in classical non-ideal plasma at high non-relativistic photon energies

The effects of the non-ideality (NI) of classical plasmas on the photoionization of helium atoms at high non-relativistic photon energies are investigated within the framework of the dipole approximation. Screened interaction in non-ideal plasmas is represented by an effective potential, deduced from a solution of Bogolyubov's hierarchy equations on discarding the effects of quantum degeneracy. A highly correlated wave function consisting of 715 terms for the ground state of helium has been used to evaluate the dipole matrix element. Changes in the asymptotic cross sections of single, double, and total photoionizations due to varying NI of plasmas have been investigated in detail. Particular emphasis is made to study the changes in the asymptotic ratio of the double-to-single photoionization cross section caused by the variation of non-ideality parameter in a wide range. It is found that increasing plasma NI makes the feasibility of occurrence of double photoionization to broaden.

An atom passing through a hole in a dielectric membrane: impact of dispersion forces on mask-based matter-wave lithography

Fast, large area patterning of arbitrary structures down to the nanometre scale is of great interest for a range of applications including the semiconductor industry, quantum electronics, nanophotonics and others. It was recently proposed that nanometre-resolution mask lithography can be realised by sending metastable helium atoms through a binary holography mask consisting of a pattern of holes. However, these first calculations were done using a simple scalar wave approach, which did not consider the dispersion force interaction between the atoms and the mask material. To access the true potential of the idea, it is necessary to access how this interaction affects the atoms. Here we present a theoretical study of the dispersion force interaction between an atom and a dielectric membrane with a hole. We look at metastable and ground state helium, using experimentally realistic wavelengths (0.05–1 nm) and membrane thicknesses (5–50 nm). We find that the effective hole radius is reduced by around 1–7 nm for metastable helium and 0.5–3.5 nm for ground-state helium. As expected, the reduction is largest for thick membranes and slow atoms.

Accurate Exponential Representations for the Ground State Wave Functions of the Collinear Two-Electron Atomic Systems

In the framework of the study of helium-like atomic systems possessing the collinear configuration, we propose a simple method for computing compact but very accurate wave functions describing the relevant S-state. It is worth noting that the considered states include the well-known states of the electron–nucleus and electron–electron coalescences as a particular case. The simplicity and compactness imply that the considered wave functions represent linear combinations of a few single exponentials. We have calculated such model wave functions for the ground state of helium and the two-electron ions with nucleus charge 1≤Z≤5. The parameters and the accompanying characteristics of these functions are presented in tables for number of exponential from 3 to 6. The accuracy of the resulting wave functions are confirmed graphically. The specific properties of the relevant codes by Wolfram Mathematica are discussed. An example of application of the compact wave functions under consideration is reported.

Plasma Confined Ground and Excited State Helium Atom: A Comparison Theorem Study Using Variational Monte Carlo and Lagrange Mesh Method

The energy eigenvalues of the ground state helium atom and lowest two excited states corresponding to the configurations 1s2s embedded in the plasma environment using Hulthén, Debye–Hückel and exponential cosine screened Coulomb model potentials are investigated within the variational Monte Carlo method, starting with the ultracompact trial wave functions in the form of generalized Hylleraas–Kinoshita functions and Guevara–Harris–Turbiner functions. The Lagrange mesh method calculations of energy are reported for the He atom in the ground and excited 1S and 3S states, which are in excellent agreement with the variational Monte Carlo results. Interesting relative ordering of eigenvalues are reported corresponding to the different screened Coulomb potentials in the He ground and excited electronic states, which are rationalized in terms of the comparison theorem of quantum mechanics.

Comparison among translational temperatures of , , and in inductively coupled plasmas

We compared the translational temperatures of , , and in low-pressure inductively coupled plasmas. We employed laser absorption spectroscopy for measuring the Doppler broadening widths of the transition lines, and they told us the translational temperatures of the three electronic excited states. From the comparison between the temperatures of and , we confirmed that the metastable 3 S 1 state can work as the probe for the temperature measurement of the ground state helium atoms. We observed higher temperatures for than in helium–argon mixture plasmas with total pressures less than 80 mTorr. The higher temperature is considered to be due to the selective heating of argon by the charge exchange collision with Ar+.

Resonant control of photoelectron directionality by interfering one- and two-photon pathways

Coherent control of interfering one- and two-photon processes has for decades been the subject of research to achieve the redirection of photocurrent. The present study develops two-pathway coherent control of ground state helium atom above-threshold photoionization for energies up to the $N=2$ threshold, based on a multichannel quantum defect and R-matrix calculation. Three parameters are controlled in our treatment: the optical interference phase $\Delta\Phi$, the reduced electric field strength $\chi=\mathcal{E}_{\omega}^2/{\mathcal{E}_{2\omega}}$, and the final state energy $\epsilon$. A small energy change near a resonance is shown to flip the emission direction of photoelectrons with high efficiency, through an example where $90\%$ of photoelectrons whose energy is near the $2p^2\ ^1S^e$ resonance flip their emission direction. However, the large fraction of photoelectrons ionized at the intermediate state energy, which are not influenced by the optical control, make this control scheme challenging to realize experimentally.

Direct observation of a Feshbach resonance by coincidence detection of ions and electrons in Penning ionization collisions

Observation of molecular dynamics with quantum state resolution is one of the major challenges in chemical physics. Complete characterization of collision dynamics leads to the microscopic understanding and unraveling of different quantum phenomena such as scattering resonances. Here we present an experimental approach for observing molecular dynamics involving neutral particles and ions that is capable of providing state-to-state mapping of the dynamics. We use Penning ionization reaction between argon and metastable helium to generate argon ion and ground state helium atom pairs at separation of several angstroms. The energy of an ejected electron carries the information about the initial electronic state of an ion. The coincidence detection of ionic products provides a state resolved description of the post-ionization ion-neutral dynamics. We demonstrate that correlation between the electron and ion energy spectra enables us to directly observe the spin-orbit excited Feshbach resonance state of HeAr+. We measure the lifetime of the quasi-bound HeAr+A2 state and discuss possible applications of our method.

The role of spin\u2013orbit effects in the mobility of N+ ions moving in a helium gas at low temperature

The mobility of N+ ions in ground-state helium gas at very low temperature is examined with explicit inclusion of spin–orbit coupling effects. The ionic kinetics is treated theoretically with the three-temperature model. The N+–He interaction potentials, including spin–orbit coupling, are determined using high-level ab initio calculations. Then, the classical and quantal transport cross sections, both needed in the computation of the mobility coefficients, are calculated in terms of the collisional energy of the N+–He system. The numerical results, at temperature 4.3 K, show the spin–orbit interactions have negligible effect on the mobility coefficients.Graphical abstract

Helium metastable species generation in atmospheric pressure RF plasma jets driven by tailored voltage waveforms in mixtures of He and N2

Spatially resolved tunable diode-laser absorption measurements of the absolute densities of He-I (23S1) metastables in a micro atmospheric pressure plasma jet operated in He/N2 and driven by ‘peaks’- and ‘valleys’-type tailored voltage waveforms are presented. The measurements are performed at different nitrogen admixture concentrations and peak-to-peak voltages with waveforms that consist of up to four consecutive harmonics of the fundamental frequency of 13.56 MHz. Comparisons of the measured metastable densities with those obtained from particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulations show a good quantitative agreement. The density of helium metastables is found to be significantly enhanced by increasing the number of consecutive driving harmonics. Their generation can be further optimized by tuning the peak-to-peak voltage amplitude and the concentration of the reactive gas admixture. These findings are understood based on detailed fundamental insights into the spatio-temporal electron dynamics gained from the simulations, which show that voltage waveform tailoring allows to control the electron energy distribution function to optimize the metastable generation. A high degree of correlation between the metastable creation rate and the electron impact excitation rate from the helium ground state into the He-I ((3s)3S1) level is observed for some conditions which may facilitate an estimation of the metastable densities based on phase resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements of the 706.5 nm He-I line originating from the above level and metastable density values at proper reference conditions.

Theoretical investigation of the pressure broadening D1 and D2 lines of cesium atoms colliding with ground-state helium atoms

Full quantum mechanical calculations are performed to determine the broadening in the far wings of the cesium D1 and D2 line shapes arising from elastic collisions of Cs atom with inert helium atoms. The potential energy curves of the low-lying CsHe molecular states, as well as the related transition dipole moments, are carefully computed from ab initio methods based on state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field–multireference configuration interaction (SA-CASSCF–MRCI) calculations, involving the spin–orbit effect, and taking into account the Davidson and BSSE corrections. The absorption and emission reduced coefficients are determined in the temperature and wavelength ranges of 323–3000 K and 800–1000 nm, respectively. Both profiles of the absorption and the emission are dominated by the free–free transitions, and exhibit a satellite peak in the blue wing near the wavelength 825 nm, attributed to transitions. The results are in good agreement with previous experimental and theoretical works.

Helium Absorption at 1083 nm from Extended Exoplanet Atmospheres: Dependence on Stellar Radiation

Strong absorption signatures in the helium line at 1083 nm have recently been detected in transmission spectra of several close-in exoplanets. This absorption line originates from neutral helium atoms in an excited, metastable 2$^3$S state. The population of helium atoms in this excited state is governed by the spectral shape and intensity of the incident stellar radiation field. We investigate what kind of stellar environments are most favorable for populating the metastable helium state in extended planetary atmospheres. Our results suggest that planets orbiting at close separations from late-type stars, particularly K stars, are the most promising candidates for transit absorption signals at 1083 nm. This result is supported by observations, as all four exoplanets with currently reported helium detections orbit K-type stars. In general, conditions for exciting helium atoms become more favorable at closer orbital separations, and around stars with higher levels of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) flux, which ionizes the helium ground state, and lower levels of mid-ultraviolet (mid-UV) flux, which ionizes the helium metastable state.

Tsallis entropy calculation for non-Coulombic helium

Tsallis entropy is calculated for ground state of helium that interrelate with a modified potential via a combination of Yukawa and exponential-cosine-screened-Coulomb potentials. The calculations have been done, in the position (r) space, using an explicitly correlated 3-parameter wave function. The simple wave function is used to reach intuitive and quantitative discussions. Due to the nonadditive property of our system, the modified Tsallis index Qq is proposed and calculated as a function of the screening parameter μ. Such calculations for the ground state of helium with the modified potential are carried out for the first time in the literature.

Applications of the Variational Quantum Monte Carlo Method to the Two-Electron Atoms

The variational quantum Monte Carlo method was applied to investigate the ground states of the helium atom and helium like ions with atomic number from 1 to 10 and the first four excited states of the helium atom. Furthermore, the investigation of the ground state of helium, Li⁺, and Be²⁺ in a confined impenetrable spherical box. Moreover, the calculation of the ground state of the helium atom in a strong magnetic field using four simple trial wave functions. The trial wave functions consist of usual orbital hydrogen wave functions multiplied by correlation function. Using four different correlation wave functions, we describe the interaction of the two electrons with each other and having a small number of variational parameters.

Abinitio Calculations of the Isotopic Dependence of Nuclear Clustering.

Nuclear clustering describes the appearance of structures resembling smaller nuclei such as alpha particles (^{4}He nuclei) within the interior of a larger nucleus. In this Letter, we present lattice MonteCarlo calculations based on chiral effective field theory for the ground states of helium, beryllium, carbon, and oxygen isotopes. By computing model-independent measures that probe three- and four-nucleon correlations at short distances, we determine the shape of the alpha clusters and the entanglement of nucleons comprising each alpha cluster with the outside medium. We also introduce a new computational approach called the pinhole algorithm, which solves a long-standing deficiency of auxiliary-field MonteCarlo simulations in computing density correlations relative to the center of mass. We use the pinhole algorithm to determine the proton and neutron density distributions and the geometry of cluster correlations in ^{12}C, ^{14}C, and ^{16}C. The structural similarities among the carbon isotopes suggest that ^{14}C and ^{16}C have excitations analogous to the well-known Hoyle state resonance in ^{12}C.

Differential and total cross sections for charge transfer and transfer-excitation in ion-helium collisions

Total cross sections for single charge transfer in collisions of multicharged bare ions with ground-state helium atoms at incident energy ranging from 40 to 5000 keV/amu have been calculated in the framework of a four-body model of final channel distorted-wave (FC-DW-4B) approximation. In this formalism, distortion in the final channel related to the Coulomb continuum of the target and the Coulomb interaction between the passive electron in the target with the projectile are included. In all cases, total single electron-capture cross sections have been calculated by summing over all contributions up to $n=3$ shells and subshells. It has been observed that the contribution of the capture cross sections into excited states have insignificant contributions for symmetric collisions. Comprehensive comparisons are made between the four body model of boundary corrected continuum intermediate-state approximations [Phys. Rev. A 83, 032706 (2011)] and the present FC-DW-4B model. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the relative importance of dynamic electron correlation and the role of passive electron in the target at intermediate and high impact energies. In addition, projectile angular differential cross sections (DCS) for charge transfer and transfer-excitation in $p\text{-He}$ collisions are calculated at different impact energies. At low projectile energies, the present DCS data exhibits the typical steeply decreasing dependence on the projectile scattering angles, whereas at high impact energies, the double-scattering region centered on the Thomas angle is obtained. Detailed comparisons with the available experimental data and other theories are reported with the purpose of further assessing the relevance of the present model at different impact energies. Overall, the calculated cross sections show good agreement with the available experimental findings.

Shannon Information Entropy in Position Space for the Ground and Singly Excited States of Helium with Finite Confinements

We provide benchmark values for Shannon information entropies in position space for the ground state and ls2s 1Se excited state of helium confined with finite confinement potentials by employing the highly correlated Hylleraas-type wave functions. For the excited state, a “tilt” (small oscillation) on the curve of Shannon entropy as a function of width size for the confinement potential is observed. Justified by the behavior of the electron density, the localization or delocalization of the helium wave functions confined with repulsive and attractive finite oscillator (FO) potentials are examined.