Abstract
IN a recent publication1, the resolution and measurement of the satellite 2S1/2–3P1/2 in the fine structure of the first member of the Balmer series in heavy hydrogen was reported. The much weaker satellite 2P3/2–3S1/2 has now been resolved by the use of a double Fabry–Perot etalon with appropriate spacers. The light source was a U-tube cooled in liquid hydrogen, similar to that described by Kuhn and Series1. The weak satellite was found to be at a distance 0.133 ± 0.001 cm.−1 from the peak of the complex (2P3/2–3D5/2, 3D3/2), which is to be compared with the distance 0.141 cm−1 predicted by the Dirac theory, a figure which includes the small corrections explained in the earlier communication1. General arguments1 indicate that the discrepancy is to be attributed to the position of the 3S term, which is therefore raised 0.008 ± 0.002 cm−1 above the level predicted by the Dirac theory.
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SERIES, G. A Spectroscopic Determination of the Shift of the 3S Term in Hydrogen. Nature 166, 961 (1950). https://doi.org/10.1038/166961a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/166961a0
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