Fate of accidental symmetries of the relativistic hydrogen atom in a spherical cavity

DOI10.1016/J.AOP.2015.08.015zbMATH Open1343.81244arXiv1504.04269OpenAlexW2964111070MaRDI QIDQ738247FDOQ738247

Authors: M. H. Al-Hashimi, U.-J. Wiese, Abouzeid M. Shalaby 

Publication date: 2 September 2016

Published in: Annals of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The non-relativistic hydrogen atom enjoys an accidental $SO(4)$ symmetry, that enlarges the rotational $SO(3)$ symmetry, by extending the angular momentum algebra with the Runge-Lenz vector. In the relativistic hydrogen atom the accidental symmetry is partially lifted. Due to the Johnson-Lippmann operator, which commutes with the Dirac Hamiltonian, some degeneracy remains. When the non-relativistic hydrogen atom is put in a spherical cavity of radius $R$ with perfectly reflecting Robin boundary conditions, characterized by a self-adjoint extension parameter $gamma$, in general the accidental $SO(4)$ symmetry is lifted. However, for $R=(l+1)(l+2)a$ (where $a$ is the Bohr radius and $l$ is the orbital angular momentum) some degeneracy remains when $gamma=infty$ or $gamma=frac2R$. In the relativistic case, we consider the most general spherically and parity invariant boundary condition, which is characterized by a self-adjoint extension parameter. In this case, the remnant accidental symmetry is always lifted in a finite volume. We also investigate the accidental symmetry in the context of the Pauli equation, which sheds light on the proper non-relativistic treatment including spin. In that case, again some degeneracy remains for specific values of $R$ and $gamma$.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1504.04269

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zbMATH Keywords

Robin boundary conditionatomic spectrum in spherical cavityDirac hydrogen atomPauli hydrogen atomself adjoint extension parameter

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Atomic physics (81V45)

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Cited In (3)

• Spin relevant invariants and the general solution of the Dirac equation for the Coulomb fields
• Self-adjoint extensions for confined electrons: from a particle in a spherical cavity to the hydrogen atom in a sphere and on a cone
• Exact solutions to the Dirac equation for equilateral triangular billiard systems

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