The problem of the ionized hydrogen molecule

Abstract

The problem of the ionized hydrogen molecule was first treated by Pauli(1) who used the old quantum theory and obtained a result which was not in agreement with experiment. Niessen,(2) however, obtained the experimental value for the lowest energy level by introducing half-quantum numbers. The problem has now been treated by methods of wave-mechanics; thus Burrau(3) obtained a result in very good agreement with experiment by a numerical integration and a general discussion has been given recently by A. H. Wilson.(4) It is well known that the polynomial method of wave-mechanics, invented by Brillouin and Wentzel and developed by Sommerfeld,(5) gives, for a certain group of problems, the same result as the old quantum theory in approximation (0) and gives half-quantum numbers in approximation (1). It is shown in this paper that the present problem belongs to this group.