Excited states of positronic lithium and beryllium

Using a variational method with an explicitly correlated Gaussian basis, we study the e⁺-Li and e⁺-Be complexes in the ground and lowest excited states with higher spin multiplicity. Our calculations provide rigorous theoretical confirmation that a positron can be attached to the excited states: 1s2s2p Po4 and 1s22s2p Po3 for e⁺-Li and e⁺-Be, respectively. The result is particularly notable for the e⁺-Be complex, as the excited Po3 state lies below the autoionization threshold. We report accurate binding energies, annihilation rates and structural properties of these positron-atom systems. The existence of the ground and metastable excited states with bound positron opens up a new route to the presently lacking experimental verification of stability of a positron binding to any neutral atom.