Precision spectroscopy of the helium atom

Persistent efforts in both theory and experiment have yielded increasingly precise understanding of the helium atom. Because of its simplicity, the helium atom has long been a testing ground for relativistic and quantum electrodynamic effects in few-body atomic systems theoretically and experimentally. Comparison between theory and experiment of the helium spectroscopy in 1s2p3PJ can potentially extract a very precise value of the fine structure constant a. The helium atom can also be used to explore exotic nuclear structures. In this paper, we provide a brief review of the recent advances in precision calculations and measurements of the helium atom.