Effective interaction of a slow negative meson with a hydrogen atom: infinite repulsion at finite distances

The diagonal part of the effective potential of the interaction between a slow negatively charged meson and a hydrogen atom is studied in the adiabatic representation. Near the critical separation R/sub i/ between the meson and the proton at which the bound state of the electron in the field of a finite dipole disappears, the effective potential of the meson-atom interaction becomes positive and for R→R/sub i/+0 behaves as G/sub i/2/(R-R/sub i/)3