Self-energy screening approximations in multi-electron atoms

Atomic structure calculations have reached levels of accuracy which require evaluation of many-electron QED contributions. Since exact analytic solutions do not exist, a number of heuristics have been used to approximate the screening of additional electrons. Herein we present an implementation for the widely used GRASP atomic-structure code based on Welton's concept of the electron self-energy. We show that this implementation provides far superior agreement compared with a range of other theoretical predictions, and that the discrepancy between the present implementation and that previously used is of comparable magnitude to other sources of error in high-accuracy atomic calculations. This improvement is essential for ongoing studies of complex atomic systems.

► We develop a self-energy screening approximation suitable for multi-electron atoms. ► This approximation is tested in a number of few- and many-electron systems. ► We obtain superior agreement with experiment compared with existing approximations. ► An implementation of this approximation is provided for use with GRASP2K.