The Perfect Atom: Bound States of Supersymmetric Quantum Electrodynamics

Abstract

We study hydrogen-like atoms in N=1 supersymmetric quantum electrodynamics with an electronic and a muonic family. These atoms are bound states of an anti-muon and an electron or their superpartners. The exchange of a photino converts different bound states into each other. We determine the energy eigenstates and calculate the spectrum to fourth order in the fine structure constant. A difference between these perfect atoms and non-supersymmetric ones is the absence of hyperfine structure. We organize the eigenstates into super multiplets of the underlying symmetry algebra.

Comments: 30 pages, 2 figures. v2: mistake associated with gauge choice fixed, references added. v3: comment about super-positronium added, published version