ATOMIC-HYDROGEN IN A UNIFORM MAGNETIC-FIELD - LOW-LYING ENERGY-LEVELS FOR FIELDS BELOW 109-G

The wave function for an electron in combined Coulomb and uniform magnetic fields is expanded in oblatespheroidal angle functions. The resulting Schrödinger equation for the radial function is solved for the energy levels by means of two different adiabatic approximations, which yield rigorous lower and upper bounds on the lowest exact energy levels for each symmetry state of the system. Results are presented for the level and binding energies of hydrogenic 1s, 2s, and 2p levels for magnetic fields in the range 107B1011 G and compared with results of other authors. These results indicate that the present adiabatic approximation methods employing spherical symmetry may be expected to give reliable results for energies of low-lying hydrogenic levels for magnetic fields in the range 0B109 G. © 1979 The American Physical Society.