DOUBLY EXCITED CIRCULAR BA(6PJ, 21C) STATES - E-E INTERACTION EFFECTS IN WEAK EXTERNAL FIELDS

The behaviour of doubly excited circular atoms in weak parallel electric and magnetic fields has been studied. The Hamiltonian, including the e-e interaction between the two excited electrons, Stark and Zeeman effects, is diagonalized in a truncated basis. The Rydberg electron, initially in a circular state, experiences a mixing of its orbital and magnetic quantum numbers, due to the presence of the external fields and to the excitation of the inner electron. This mixing depends on the spatial symmetry of the excited core and on the amplitude of the electric field. It can be detected by the field-ionization method which provides a new way for studying non-autoionizing doubly excited states.