Abstract

The question of modification of atomic properties in the presence of conducting walls has gained considerable interest recently. In many experiments it has been demonstrated that spontaneous decay of atoms can be influenced in confined space. A more subtle effect on the atoms is the energy shift expected e. g. between two parallel conducting planes. This shift is extremely small and can be caused by an electrostatic interaction with the conducting walls and by radiation induced (retarded) effects. In the case of two parallel planes the electrostatic effect is dominant when the distance L between the plates is small L<n³·a₀/α (n: main quantum number, a₀: Bohr-radius, α: finestructure constant) and the radiative effect plays the mayor role when large distances are used L>n³·a₀/α^[1].

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