The energy correction due to a finite size nucleus of the hydrogen atom confined in a penetrable spherical cavity

• N. Aquino ^[2] ; R.A. Rojas ^[2] ; H.E. Montgomery ^[1]
  1. [1] Centre College

     Centre College

     Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, México
• Localización: Revista Mexicana de Física, ISSN-e 0035-001X, Vol. 64, Nº. 4, 2018, págs. 399-406
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • We have computed accurate values for the ground state energy of a hydrogen atom confined by a finite spherical barrier of height V_(0) as a function of the confinement radius R_(c). We consider the nucleus as a sphere with a uniform charge distribution instead of as a point particle. The contribution to the ground state energy due to the finite nuclear size is computed as a function of the confinement radius, R_(c), and the height of the barrier, V0, using time-independent perturbation theory. For an impenetrable cavity with R_(c) = 0.5 au, we found that this energy correction is fifty times higher than the corresponding value for the free hydrogen atom. For a finite value of V_(0), we found that the maximum of the energy correction is reached at a value R_(cmax), which is very close to the position at which the electron density is most compact around the nucleus. This is confirmed though evaluation of the Shannon entropy in configuration space.