Recombination process for hydrogen atom in presence of blackbody radiation

Abstract

The process of recombination for the hydrogen atom in the heat bath creating the blackbody radiation is descibed within the frameworks of quantum electrodynamics. For this purpose the self-energy for unbound electron in the field of the nucleus is considered. The imaginary part of this self-energy is directly connected with the recombination cross-section. The same procedure is applied to the hydrogen atom in the field of blackbody radiation. This leads to the new thermal correction to the process of recombination for the hydrogen atom in the heat bath. This correction takes into account the finite lifetimes of atomic levels and appears to be important for special astrophysical studies.