Higher-order recoil corrections for singlet states of the helium atom

Vojtěch Patkóš, Vladimir A. Yerokhin, Krzysztof Pachucki
2017 Physical Review A  
We investigate the finite nuclear mass corrections in the helium atom in order to resolve a significant disagreement between the 2^3S - 2^3P and 2^3S - 2^1S transition isotope shifts. These two transitions lead to discrepant results for the nuclear charge radii difference between ^4He and ^3He. The accurate treatment of the finite nuclear mass effects is quite complicated and requires the use of the quantum field theoretical approach. We derive α^6 m^2/M correction with the help of
more » ... ic QED and dimensional regularization of the three body Coulombic system, and present accurate numerical results for low lying states. The previously reported 4 σ discrepancy in the nuclear charge radius difference between ^3He and ^4He from two different atomic isotope shift transitions is confirmed, which calls for verification of experimental transition frequencies.
doi:10.1103/physreva.95.012508 fatcat:5igr5wec7za3fpnlpznuhpmhf4