Apparatus for fabrication of americium- beryllium neutron sources prevents capsule contamination

Modified gloved enclosure is used to fill a capsule with a mixture of americium and beryllium radioactive powders to seal weld the opening, and to test it for leaks. It contains a horizontal partition, vortex mixer, mounting press, welder, test vessel, and radiation shielding to prevent surface contamination

Two-Loop Bethe Logarithms

We calculate the two-loop Bethe logarithm correction to atomic energy levels in hydrogen-like systems. The two-loop Bethe logarithm is a low-energy quantum electrodynamic (QED) effect involving multiple summations over virtual excited atomic states. Although much smaller in absolute magnitude than the well-known one-loop Bethe logarithm, the two-loop analog is quite significant when compared to the current experimental accuracy of the 1S-2S transition: it contributes -8.19 and -0.84 kHz for the 1S and the 2S state, respectively. The two-loop Bethe logarithm has been the largest unknown correction to the hydrogen Lamb shift to date. Together with the ongoing measurement of the proton charge radius at the Paul Scherrer Institute its calculation will bring theoretical and experimental accuracy for the Lamb shift in atomic hydrogen to the level of 10^(-7).Comment: 4 pages, RevTe

Lamb Shift of 3P and 4P states and the determination of α\alpha

The fine structure interval of P states in hydrogenlike systems can be determined theoretically with high precision, because the energy levels of P states are only slightly influenced by the structure of the nucleus. Therefore a measurement of the fine structure may serve as an excellent test of QED in bound systems or alternatively as a means of determining the fine structure constant $\alpha$ with very high precision. In this paper an improved analytic calculation of higher-order binding corrections to the one-loop self energy of 3P and 4P states in hydrogen-like systems with low nuclear charge number $Z$ is presented. A comparison of the analytic results to the extrapolated numerical data for high $Z$ ions serves as an independent test of the analytic evaluation. New theoretical values for the Lamb shift of the P states and for the fine structure splittings are given.Comment: 33 pages, LaTeX, 4 tables, 4 figure

Electron Self Energy for Higher Excited S Levels

A nonperturbative numerical evaluation of the one-photon electron self energy for the 3S and 4S states with charge numbers Z=1 to 5 is described. The numerical results are in agreement with known terms in the expansion of the self energy in powers of Zalpha.Comment: 3 pages, RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Calculation of the Electron Self Energy for Low Nuclear Charge

We present a nonperturbative numerical evaluation of the one-photon electron self energy for hydrogenlike ions with low nuclear charge numbers Z=1 to 5. Our calculation for the 1S state has a numerical uncertainty of 0.8 Hz for hydrogen and 13 Hz for singly-ionized helium. Resummation and convergence acceleration techniques that reduce the computer time by about three orders of magnitude were employed in the calculation. The numerical results are compared to results based on known terms in the expansion of the self energy in powers of (Z alpha).Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX, 2 figure

Coordinate-space approach to the bound-electron self-energy: Self-Energy screening calculation

The self-energy screening correction is evaluated in a model in which the effect of the screening electron is represented as a first-order perturbation of the self energy by an effective potential. The effective potential is the Coulomb potential of the spherically averaged charge density of the screening electron. We evaluate the energy shift due to a $1s_{1/2}$, $2s_{1/2}$, $2p_{1/2}$, or $2p_{3/2}$ electron screening a $1s_{1/2}$, $2s_{1/2}$, $2p_{1/2}$, or $2p_{3/2}$ electron, for nuclear charge Z in the range $5 \le Z\le 92$. A detailed comparison with other calculations is made.Comment: 54 pages, 10 figures, 4 table