The results of ab initio calculations of electric-dipole amplitudes, lifetimes, and polarizabilities for several low-lying levels of ytterbium are reported. The effective Hamiltonian for two valence electrons $H_{\mathrm{eff}}$ was constructed by means of the many-body perturbation theory and solutions of the two-electron equation $H_{\mathrm{eff}}{\Phi }_n{=E}_n{\Phi }_n$ were found.

• Received 2 March 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.60.2781