Discrete contributions to static dipole polarizabilities of excited bound states of non-relativistic hydrogen-like atoms

The static dipole polarizability α _{d, i} for an arbitrary bound state i of the non-relativistic hydrogen-like atom has been known for a long time from, e.g; the second-order perturbation theory treatment of the Stark effect. A reliable result for the ground state requires both summation over the discrete spectrum and inclusion of the continuum contribution. This continuum contribution is known to decrease for excited states, but a systematic study of this decrease has not been available so far. We present here representative results from a systematic study of α _{d, i} , which was performed as a first test of a new algorithm for the radial integrals involved. Partial sum approximations of the discrete contribution yield the total α _{d, i} with a relative error of less than 1% for all states i with principal quantum number n≥5. Corresponding results for the relativistic case, for which the radial integral algorithm was developed, will be presented elsewhere. Dedicated to Professor Hermann Stoll on the occasion of his 60th birthday An erratum to this article is available at .