The frequencies of transitions between hyperfine levels of ground-state atoms can be measured with exquisite precision using magnetic-resonance techniques. This makes hyperfine transitions ideal probes of QED effects originating from the interaction of atoms with the quantized electromagnetic field. One of the most remarkable effects predicted by QED is the Casimir-Polder shift experienced by the energy levels of atoms placed near one or more dielectric objects. Here we compute the Casimir-Polder shift and the width of hyperfine transitions between ground-state Zeeman sublevels of a hydrogen atom placed in a micron-sized metallic cavity, over a range of temperatures extending from cryogenic temperatures to room temperature. Results are presented also for deuterium and tritium. We predict shifts of the hyperfine transitions frequencies of a few tens of Hz that might be measurable with present-day magnetic resonance apparatus.

中文翻译：

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有限温度下微米级金属腔中氢同位素基态超精细塞曼亚能级的 Casimir-Polder 位移

使用磁共振技术可以非常精确地测量基态原子超精细能级之间的跃迁频率。这使得超精细跃迁成为源自原子与量子化电磁场相互作用的 QED 效应的理想探针。QED 预测的最显着影响之一是放置在一个或多个介电物体附近的原子的能级所经历的 Casimir-Polder 位移。在这里，我们计算了放置在微米级金属腔中的氢原子的基态塞曼子能级之间的 Casimir-Polder 位移和超精细跃迁的宽度，温度范围从低温到室温。还提供了氘和氚的结果。