$P-$state Positronium for Precision Physics: an Ultrafine Splitting at $\alpha^6$

Abstract

An "ultrafine" splitting in positronium between the $L=1$ spin-singlet state and the spin-average of the spin-triplet states is shown to arise only at order $\alpha^6$. The QED prediction for $n=2$ states is $\Delta_{2,P}=(683/172800)m\alpha^6=73.7(1.2)$ kHz. This represents the smallest leading-order QED splitting known. Current experimental efforts could observe this splitting, and its observation can constrain new ultralight interactions, such as axions or $Z'$.