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The hydrogen spectral series can be expressed simply in terms of the Rydberg constant for hydrogen and the Rydberg formula. In atomic physics , Rydberg unit of energy , symbol Ry, corresponds to the energy of the photon whose wavenumber is the Rydberg constant, i.e. the ionization energy of the hydrogen atom in a simplified Bohr model.
This is an indirect method of measuring α, based on measurements of the masses of the electron, certain atoms, and the Rydberg constant. The Rydberg constant is known to seven parts in a trillion. The mass of the electron relative to that of caesium and rubidium atoms is also known with extremely high precision. If the mass of the electron can ...
These experiments often involve a laser operating at one wavelength to access the intermediate Rydberg state and a second wavelength laser to access the near-threshold Rydberg state region. Because of the photoabsorption selection rules, these Rydberg electrons are expected to be in highly elliptical angular momentum states.
In a theoretical model of atom, which has a infinitely massive nucleus, the energy (in wavenumbers) of a transition can be calculated from Rydberg formula: ~ = (′), where and ′ are principal quantum numbers, and is Rydberg constant.
The ground state energy would then be 8E 1 = −109 eV, where E 1 is the Rydberg constant, and its ground state wavefunction would be the product of two wavefunctions for the ground state of hydrogen-like atoms: [2]: 262 (,) = (+) /. where a 0 is the Bohr radius and Z = 2, helium's nuclear charge.
Rydberg states have energies converging on the energy of the ion. The ionization energy threshold is the energy required to completely liberate an electron from the ionic core of an atom or molecule. In practice, a Rydberg wave packet is created by a laser pulse on a hydrogenic atom and thus populates a superposition of Rydberg states. [3]
The energy of Rydberg states can be refined by including a correction called the quantum defect in the Rydberg formula. The quantum defect correction can be associated with the presence of a distributed ionic core. The experimental study of molecular Rydberg states has been conducted with traditional methods for generations.
In 1890, Rydberg proposed on a formula describing the relation between the wavelengths in spectral lines of alkali metals. [2]: v1:376 He noticed that lines came in series and he found that he could simplify his calculations using the wavenumber (the number of waves occupying the unit length, equal to 1/λ, the inverse of the wavelength) as his unit of measurement.