Abstract:
In this thesis atoms in external electric and magnetic fields are treated by numerical methods. The mainly studied systems are Hydrogen and alkali atoms under the influence of a sequence of ultrashort electrical pulses (so-called "Trains") and Atoms with many electrons in very strong magnetic fields. The quantum mechanical problem of all considered systems is treated by the finite element method, if necessary in combination with the discrete variable method. The first part of this work provides a detailed description of the numerical techniques.
In the second part, a short survey of time-dependent quantum mechanical problems, in particular, wave packet dynamics in Rydberg atoms is followed by an introduction to quantum chaos with the example of the diamagnetic Hydrogen. The quantum dynamical system mainly considered in this work is the so-called "kicked Hydrogen". It consists of Hydrogen excited by ultrashort and periodic electric field pulses. Classical treatment exhibits a separation of phase space in regular and irregular parts. The quantum mechanical treatment in this work provides the solution of the complete three-dimensional problem. The results are compared with the classical results and the one-dimensional quantum mechanical models found in literature. Kicked alkali atoms and systems with alternating pulses and random pulses are also considered.
In the third part, the Hartree-Fock equations in adiabatic approximation are solved by the finite element method. Parallelization of the program code provides an efficient calculation of atomic data needed for modelling neutron star atmospheres. Atomic data calculations are focussed on ionized iron.