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Progress toward spectroscopic accuracy: Relativistic and QED corrections for HeH+

Michał Siłkowski1, Paweł Czachorowski2, Jacek Komasa1, and Mariusz Puchalski1

Phys. Rev. A 113, 032803 – Published 2 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k4qf-thhm

Abstract

The helium hydride ion (HeH+) represents the simplest molecular system composed of nuclei with unequal charges and serves as a model system of unique importance to molecular structure theory. We present high-precision calculations of the leading relativistic (mα4) and QED (mα5) corrections for the ground electronic state of HeH+, performed within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and using effective operators in the nonrecoil limit. The use of explicitly correlated Gaussian (ECG) and cusp-enforced rECG basis functions, combined with regularization techniques for singular operators, yields a substantial reduction in numerical uncertainty compared to previous calculations. The resulting potentials reproduce rovibrational transition energies with few-megahertz uncertainties (104105cm1) and pure rotational transitions with submegahertz accuracy (105106cm1), enabling comparison with the most precise spectroscopic data for HeH+ isotopologues. These results provide a solid foundation for including higher-order effects and establish HeH+ as a primary molecular system alongside H2 for high-resolution spectroscopy, astrophysical modeling, and precision tests of fundamental physics.

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