Atoms confined in a penetrable potential: effect of the atom position on the electric and magnetic responses

We report results of the calculation of polarizability and the nuclear magnetic shielding tensors of two-electron atoms confined within an attractive Gaussian potential well. The electric and magnetic responses are obtained within the random phase approximation (RPA) of the polarization propagator. The influence of the depth and range of the potential on the electronic structure is also studied. The dependence of the parallel (along the displacement) and perpendicular components of the polarizability and shielding tensors on the distance of the atom to the centre of the well is calculated and rationalized as a dissociation-type process of the artificial diatomic molecule formed between the Coulomb and the well potentials.