Comment on the decay curves of hydrogenlike atoms observed at long times following excitation

Abstract

Explicit calculations demonstrate that cascade repopulation effects are a possible explanation of the $t^{-1.5\mathrm{}}$ dependence in the decay of Ly-$\alpha$ radiation at long times after excitation observed recently by Braithwaite, Matthews, and Moore. Good agreement with all available experimental data is obtained with reasonable population models; excitation proportional to $n^{-m}$ with $m=2.2-4\mathrm{}$ is indicated.