Lamb shift

English

Etymology

Named after American physicist Willis Lamb (1913-2008).

Noun

Lamb shift (plural Lamb shifts)

1. (quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics) A small difference between the energy levels 2S_½ and 2P_½ of the hydrogen atom, not predicted by the Dirac equation, whose detection in the Lamb–Retherford experiment of 1947 foreshadowed the development of quantum electrodynamics (in which the discrepancy is explained to be an effect of the emission and re-absorption of virtual photons); such a difference between otherwise expectedly equal energy levels of hydrogen or any other type of atom.
   • 1997, Heinrich F. Beyer, Heinz-Jürgen Kluge, Viatcheslav P. Shevelko, X-Ray Radiation of Highly Charged Ions, Springer, page 75:

     In recent years, a significant progress has been achieved in accurate measurements of the energy levels in heavy few-electron HCI including the 1s Lamb shift in H-like uranium [3.73-75], the hyperfine structure of H-like bismuth [3.69] and the ground state energies of He-like ions [3.29,20].

   • 2001, J. D. Silver, “Chapter 10: The Oxford EBIT”, in John Gillaspy, editor, Trapping Highly Charged Ions: Fundamentals and Applications, Nova Science Publishers, page 279:

     Whilst I was there, I became interested in the possibility of measuring Lamb shifts in hydrogenic ions using radio-frequency spectroscopy (1) and laser spectroscopy as a means of testing quantum electrodynamics (QED).

   • 2007, Michael I. Eides, Howard Grotch, Valery A. Shelyuto, Theory of Light Hydrogenic Bound States, Springer, page 241:

     The linear combination of the $\textstyle 1S$, $\textstyle 2S$ and $\textstyle 8D_{\frac {5}{2}}$ Lamb shifts obtained in this manner admits direct comparison with the Lamb shift theory without any further complications.

Translations

difference between energy levels

• French: décalage de Lamb (fr) m, déplacement de Lamb m
• German: Lamb-Verschiebung f
• Italian: spostamento di Lamb m
• Portuguese: desvio de Lamb m

Further reading

• Quantum electrodynamics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Quantum field theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• One-loop Feynman diagram on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Renormalization on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Shelter Island Conference on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Term symbol on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Vacuum energy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Virtual particle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Zeeman effect on Wikipedia.Wikipedia