Electronic Transitions in Protium vs. Deuterium

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter imhotep
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Deuterium Electronic
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
1 reply · 2K views
imhotep
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
What causes the differences between the atomic spectra of deuterium and the atomic spectra of protium? Are there any important considerations other than the difference in the spin of the nucleus? Also how exactly do the selection rules play out differently?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I would expect that the main difference comes from the different reduced mass, which shifts everything by ~me/(2mp) or about 1/4000.
The hyperfine structure can look different, too, of course.