Second and fourth order stark shifts in the 6snd 1 D 2 barium rydberg series

Stark splittings of⁶ snd ¹ D ₂ Rydberg states were measured betweenn=10 and 24 by quantum beat spectroscopy at very low electric field strengths, allowing the determination of tensor polarizabilities and atn=14, 19, and 24 the determination of tensor hyperpolarizabilities. The irregular behaviour of the tensor polarizabilities was explained by Coulomb approximation calculations. The fourth order contributions to the Stark Hamiltonian were written as effective operators. Representation in spherical tensor form gives tensors of rank zero, two, and four. The associated scalar and tensor hyperpolarizabilities were derived. Using these formulae, theoretical values for the hyperpolarizabilities were calculated.