Finite-Basis-Set Approach to the Two-Center Heteronuclear Dirac Problem

The rigorous two-center approach based on the dual-kinetically balanced finite-basis-set expansion is applied to one-electron, heteronuclear diatomic Bi-Au, U-Pb, and Cf-U quasimolecules. The obtained <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>1</mn><mi>σ</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> ground-state energies are compared with previous calculations, when possible. Upon analysis of three different placements of the coordinate system’s origin in the monopole approximation of the two-center potential: (1) in the middle, between the nuclei, (2) in the center of the heavy nucleus, and (3) in the center of the light nucleus, a substantial difference between the results is found. The leading contributions of one-electron quantum electrodynamics (self-energy and vacuum polarization) are evaluated within the monopole approximation as well.