Functional Form of the Imaginary Part of the Atomic Polarizability

Abstract

The dynamic atomic polarizability describes the response of the atom to incoming electromagnetic radiation. The functional form of the imaginary part of the polarizability for small driving frequencies omega has been a matter of long-standing discussion, with both a linear dependence and an omega^3 dependence being presented as candidate formulas. The imaginary part of the polarizability enters the expressions of a number of fundamental physical processes which involve the thermal dissipation of energy, such as blackbody friction, and non-contact friction. Here, we solve the long-standing problem by calculating the imaginary part of the polarizability in both the length (d.E) as well as the velocity-gauge (p.A) form of the dipole interaction, verify the gauge invariance, and find general expressions applicable to atomic theory; the omega^3 form is obtained in both gauges. The seagull term in the velocity gauge is found to be crucial in establishing gauge invariance.

arXiv comment10 pages; RevTeX; accepted for publication in Eur.Phys.J.D

References in corpus (15)

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Long-Range Tails in van der Waals Interactions of Excited-State and Ground-State Atoms
• The energetics of quantum vacuum friction: Field fluctuations
• Theory of noncontact friction for atom-surface interactions
• Magic wavelength for the hydrogen 1S-2S transition: Contribution of the continuum and the reduced-mass correction
• Non-Resonant Two-Photon Transitions in Length and Velocity Gauges
• Relativistic and Radiative Corrections to the Dynamic Stark Shift: Gauge Invariance and Transition Currents in the Velocity Gauge