Refractive Index of the Hydrogen Molecule

Abstract

The variation—perturbation method is employed for the estimation of the frequency‐dependent polarizability and the refractive index of the hydrogen molecule. Use of a one‐term expression for each component of the perturbation function leads to a simple formula for the frequency dependence. Application of the formula is made to several approximate ground‐state wavefunctions for the hydrogen molecule. Comparison of the values computed with different functions shows large differences. Good agreement with the experimental frequency dependence is obtained only from certain molecular orbital wavefunctions. It is suggested that this result may be partly fortuitous and that more refined calculations are needed, particularly for examination of the high‐frequency range.