Reminiscences from Early Quantum Mechanics of Two-Electron Atoms

P. Jordan

John Hasbrouck Van Vleck

Uri Peskin

The mere existence of stable atoms, and their arrangement into many-atom nanoscale structures, can only be explained by the laws of quantum mechanics. Indeed, the accumulated evidence regarding the internal structure of atoms motivated the formulation of quantum mechanics at the early twentieth century. Here we focus on single-electron (hydrogen-like) atoms. The dominance of the Coulomb central potential between the electron and nucleus, translates into a simple Schrödinger equation for their relative position distribution. Solving rigorously this equation reveals quantized energy levels, which explains the emission spectra of hydrogen-like atoms (Rydberg formula). The corresponding stationary probability density distributions for the electron around the nucleus are reminiscent of the Bohr model, where classical trajectories (orbits) are replaced by single-electron wave functions (orbitals). The degeneracies of different orbitals, associated with three quantum numbers, will later turn out to be critical for understanding many-electron atoms and the periodic table of the elements.

J. G. Cramer

Mark S. Swanson

Chapter 2 reviews the early atomic level experimental results that led to the formulation of quantum mechanics: blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, electron diffraction, and the Hydrogen spectrum.