The Long-Range Model of High-L Rydberg Fine Structure: A Critical Comparison with Experimental Data..

A simple view of the fine structure of non-penetrating Rydberg levels, suggested over 70 years ago [1], was refined to treat the fine structure of helium, lithium [2], and other atoms with S-state ion cores [3]. In this view the ion polarizabilities determine the fine structure pattern. Current experimental techniques provide access to highly excited high-L states in He [4], Li [5], Mg, SiIII [6], and Ba[7], and a test of the long-range model is possible with the availability of independent theoretical calculations. A critical comparison of the data treated with the long-range model will be made to the a-priori calculations of the ionic polarizabilities. [1] Joseph E. Mayer and Maria Goeppert Mayer, Phys. Rev. \textbf{43} 605 (1933). [2] Richard J. Drachman and A. K. Bhatia, Phys. Rev. A \textbf{51} 2926 (1995). [3] C. Laughlin, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. \textbf{28} 2787 (1995). [4] G. D. Stevens and S. R. Lundeen, \textit{Comments on At. and Mol. Phys., Comments on Mod. Phys.} \textbf{1,D} 207 (2000). [5] C. H. Storry, N. E. Rothery, and E. A. Hessels, Phys. Rev. A \textbf{55} 128 (1997). [6] R. A. Komara et. al., J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. \textbf{38} S87 (2005). [7] E.L. Snow, et. al. Phys. Rev. A 71, 022510 (2005)