ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES OF NEGATIVE IONS IN LIQUID HELIUM

The electronic properties of a negative ion in liquid He4 are investigated theoretically. It is assumed that the ion consists of an electron trapped in a bubble, represented by a square-well potential of depth ∼ 1 eV. Explicit analytic formulae are obtained which are useful for computing many properties of such an electron, including direct optical absorption and scattering of light accompanied by 1s-ns and 1s-nd transitions. Numerical values are given for the strength of 1s-1p transitions and for the scattering cross sections of laser light due to 1s-2s and 1s-1d transitions. The splitting of the 1p state due to the Jahn-Teller effect is investigated in detail, and the linewidths for the scattering processes are estimated. © 1969 The American Physical Society.