Semiclassical mechanics of the quadratic Zeeman effect

Abstract

A comprehensive approach to semiclassical quantization of the quadratic Zeeman effect in the hydrogen atom (QZE) is presented which utilizes the connection between the Kepler system and the four-dimensional harmonic oscillator. Past attempts to quantize the QZE have encountered problems associated with singularities arising because of a classical separatrix. Here, a uniform semiclassical quantization scheme that passes smoothly through the separatrix is developed using classical perturbation theory. This method accounts for the topologically distinct kinds of dynamics that arise in the QZE, and provides good estimates of tunneling splittings. Extension to the quantization of arbitrarily-high-order classical perturbation expansions is straightforward.