Atomic Structure of HCI
An EBIT is well suited as a source for
high resolution spectroscopy of highly charged ions. The ions are at rest to a
good approximation, having no centre-of-mass velocity so a Doppler correction
does not need to be applied.
In the atomic structure of HCIs, the
relativistic and quantum electro-dynamics (QED) contributions are very
important compared with that of neutral atoms and low charged ions. For
instance, the Lamb shift in hydrogenlike ions increases in proportion to
Z4 while the elctronic binding energies increase only as
Z2, so that the relative contribution of the Lamb shift increases
as Z. Precise measurement of the energy levels of HCIs, then, gives a test of
QED theory in the strong field
regime.
