Open hydrogen atom

Abstract

In this chapter, we apply our quantum master equation for a system of Fermions in free electromagnetic field to a hydrogen atom. We obtain a quantum master equation describing transitions between the eigenstates of a hydrogen atom, with coefficients depending on the hydrogen wave functions. We find that these coefficients are in agreement with published experimental data for life times of the lower excited states.

Keywords: spherical coordinates, effective mass, momentum, angular momentum, spin, total angular momentum, commutation relation, eigenfunction, eigenvalue, spectroscopic constant, Laguerre polynomial, Legendre polynomial, orthogonality, Bohr radius, transition operator, degenerate states, radial function, spherical function, decay rate, life time.