Lowest-Order Thermal Correction to the Hydrogen Recombination Cross-Section in Presence of Blackbody Radiation

Abstract

In the present paper, the correction of the recombination and ionization processes of the hydrogen atom due to the thermal interaction of two charges was considered. The evaluation was based on a rigorous quantum electrodynamic (QED) approach within the framework of perturbation theory. The lowest-order radiative correction to the recombination/ionization cross-section was examined for a wide range of temperatures corresponding to laboratory and astrophysical conditions. The found thermal contribution was discussed both for specific states and for the total recombination and ionization coefficients.