Probing the Atom

by Silverman, Mark P.

• ISBN13: 9780691009629
• ISBN10: 0691009627
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-17
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

The many-faceted efforts to understand the structure and interactions of atoms over the past hundred years have contributed decisively and dramatically to the explosive development of physics. There is hardly a branch of modern physical science that does not in some seminal way rely on the fundamental principles and mathematical and experimental insights that derive from these studies. In particular, the drive to understand the singular features of the hydrogen atom--simultaneously the archetype of all atoms and the least typical atom--spurred many of the twentieth century's advances in physics and chemistry. This book gives an in-depth account of the author's own penetrating experimental and theoretical investigations of the hydrogen atom, while simultaneously providing broad lessons in the application of quantum mechanics to atomic structure and interactions. A pioneer in the combined use of atomic accelerators and radiofrequency spectroscopy for probing the internal structure of the hydrogen atom, Mark Silverman examines the general principles behind this far-reaching experimental approach. Fast-moving protons are directed into gas or foil targets from which they capture electrons to become hydrogen atoms moving uniformly at very high speeds. During their rapid passage through the spectroscopy chamber of the atomic accelerator, these atoms reveal by the light they emit fascinating details of their internal configuration and the interactions that created them. Silverman examines the effects of radiofrequency fields on the hydrogen atom clearly and systematically, explaining the details of these interactions at different levels of complexity and refinement, each level illuminating the physical processes involved from different and complementary perspectives. Readers interested in diverse areas of physics and physical chemistry will appreciate both the theoretical and practical implications of Silverman's studies and the personal style with which he relays them. This is a work of not only an outstanding research physicist, but a fine teacher who understands how curiosity underlies all science.

Table of Contents

Preface: In at the Beginnings	xi
Notes	xviii
Energies and Spectral Lines	3	(16)
Anatomy of Hydrogen	3	(9)
Shapes and Widths	12	(7)
Notes	17	(2)
The Driven Two-Level Atom	19	(24)
Dynamics of a Two-Level Atom	19	(4)
Rotating-Wave Approximation	23	(5)
Oscillating-Field Theory	28	(4)
Occupation Probabilities	32	(11)
Notes	42	(1)
The Driven Multilevel Atom	43	(35)
Statistical Uncertainties and the Density Matrix	43	(3)
Time Evolution of the Density Matrix	46	(2)
Generalized Resonant Field Theory	48	(6)
Two-State Transitions	54	(2)
Three-State Transitions	56	(4)
Four-State Transitions	60	(5)
Numerical Solution of the N-State System	65	(2)
Coupling Elements Vμν	67	(11)
Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors of Three- and Four-State Systems	72	(4)
Notes	76	(2)
Multiple-Quantum Transitions	78	(39)
The Quantized Radiofrequency Field	78	(7)
Remarks on Dipole Coupling	85	(2)
The Two-Level Atom (Again)	87	(4)
Coherent Field States	91	(2)
Triple-Quantum Transitions	93	(1)
Crossings and Anticrossings	94	(5)
Resolvent Operator Solution	99	(7)
One- and Three-Photon Lineshapes	106	(11)
Semiclassical Theory of Multiphoton Transitions	111	(2)
Resolvents, Propagators, and Green's Functions	113	(2)
Notes	115	(2)
The Decay of Coupled States	117	(22)
Perspectives on Radiation Damping	117	(1)
The Quantized Optical Field	118	(4)
State Amplitudes and Radiative Decay Rates	122	(5)
Emission Lineshapes	127	(12)
Notes	138	(1)
Optical Detection Theory	139	(21)
The Process of Detection	139	(4)
The Optical Detection Function	143	(4)
The Efficiency Matrix	147	(6)
The Optical Signal	153	(7)
Notes	158	(2)
State Selection and Lineshape Resolution	160	(13)
The Use of Sequential Fields	160	(2)
Parallel Oscillating Fields	162	(8)
Nonparallel Oscillating Fields	170	(3)
Notes	172	(1)
Elements of Experimental Design and Application	173	(52)
General Description	173	(2)
Ion Production and Extraction	175	(4)
Ion Acceleration and Focusing	179	(5)
Excited Atom Production	184	(3)
The Radiofrequency System	187	(9)
Optical Detection	196	(1)
Spectroscopy	197	(9)
Electron Capture and Atom Formation	206	(19)
The Paraxial Ray Equation for Ions	214	(1)
Effect of Standing Waves on a Resonance Lineshape	215	(4)
Phenomenological Model of the RF Chamber	219	(3)
Notes	222	(3)
Index	225