Abstract
A solution of the Dirac equation for an electron in the field of a point nucleus (Ze) has been obtained as an eigenfunction of the Schrödinger Hamiltonian and the spin projection operator Σ3. With the use of this solution, the probability W (ν) of the emission of a neutrino per unit time from a hydrogen-like atom, \((Ze)* \to (Ze) + \nu \bar \nu\), has been calculated for the first time in the first order of the parameter Ze ≪ 1. The probability W (ν) appears to be rather small, and the corresponding lifetime τ(ν) = [W (ν)]–1 is much larger than the age of the Universe; correspondingly, this process cannot affect the balance of low-energy neutrinos. The smallness of W (ν) is due not only to the presence of the obvious “weak” factor (Gm 2 p )2(m/mp)4 in the expression for W (ν), but also primarily to the “electromagnetic” factor (Zα)12, which can be revealed only in a particular calculation. It has been argued within quantum electrodynamics with the mentioned wavefunctions that photon emission, (Ze)* → (Ze) + γ, can be absent (analysis of photon emission requires the further development of the method), whereas axion emission, (Ze)* → (Ze) + a, can occur, although the last two effects have not been considered in detail.
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Original Russian Text © V.V. Skobelev, 2016, published in Zhurnal Eksperimental’noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 2016, Vol. 149, No. 2, pp. 285–293.
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Skobelev, V.V. On emission from a hydrogen-like atom. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 122, 248–255 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776116020126
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776116020126