A new limit for the noncommutative space–time parameter

Abstract

The spectrum of the hydrogen atom in the framework of noncommutative quantum mechanics is studied and the related phenomenology is presented. We find that the noncommutative effects are similar to those obtained by considering the extended charged nature of the proton in the atom. To the first order in the noncommutative parameter, it is equivalent to an electron in the fields of a Coulomb potential and an electric dipole and this allows us to get a bound for this parameter. In a second step, we compute noncommutative corrections of the energy levels and find that they are at the second order in the parameter of noncommutativity. By comparing our results to those obtained from experimental spectroscopy, we get another limit for this parameter.