Despite the success of Schrödinger’s description of the H-atom, it became apparent that the spectrum of the simplest multi-electron atom—helium—could not be so readily explained. And the spectra of other atoms showed ‘anomalous’ splitting in a magnetic field. In 1920 Sommerfeld introduced a fourth quantum number. A few years later Pauli was led to the inspired conclusion that the electron must have a curious ‘two-valuedness’ characterized by a quantum number of ½, and went on to discover the exclusion principle. Perhaps this is because the electron possesses a self-rotation, leading to the notion of electron spin, potentially explaining why each orbital can accommodate only two electrons. Heisenberg traced this behaviour back to the symmetry properties of the wavefunctions. By observing which transitions in the spectrum of helium are allowed and which are forbidden, we can deduce the generalized Pauli principle, from which the exclusion principle follows.Despite the success of Schrödinger’s description of the H-atom, it became apparent that the spectrum of the simplest multi-electron atom—helium—could not be so readily explained. And the spectra of other atoms showed ‘anomalous’ splitting in a magnetic field. In 1920 Sommerfeld introduced a fourth quantum number. A few years later Pauli was led to the inspired conclusion that the electron must have a curious ‘two-valuedness’ characterized by a quantum number of ½, and went on to discover the exclusion principle. Perhaps this is because the electron possesses a self-rotation, leading to the notion of electron spin, potentially explaining why each orbital can accommodate only two electrons. Heisenberg traced this behaviour back to the symmetry properties of the wavefunctions. By observing which transitions in the spectrum of helium are allowed and which are forbidden, we can deduce the generalized Pauli principle, from which the exclusion principle follows.

Oxford University Press eBooksJan 10, 20200 citations

The Electron Spin

Valerio Magnasco

Elsevier eBooksJan 1, 20070 citations

Identical Particles, Spin and Exclusion Principle

Wolfgang Ernst Friederich Pauli

Springer eBooksJan 1, 19800 citations

The Pauli exclusion principle and beyond

Alexander A. Klyachko

The Pauli exclusion principle can be stated as inequality $\le 1$ for the electron density matrix $ρ$ . Nowadays it is replaced by skew symmetry of the multi-electron wave function. The replacement leads to numerous additional constraints on $ρ$ , which are discussed in this letter together with their physical implications, in particular for spin magnetic moment of a multi-electron system.The Pauli exclusion principle can be stated as inequality $\le 1$ for the electron density matrix $ρ$. Nowadays it is replaced by skew symmetry of the multi-electron wave function. The replacement leads to numerous additional constraints on $ρ$, which are discussed in this letter together with their physical implications, in particular for spin magnetic moment of a multi-electron system.

arXiv:0904.2009Apr 13, 200927 citations

Electron Spin

Arno Böhm, Mark E. Loewe

Springer eBooksJan 1, 19930 citations

The Pauli exclusion principle can be stated as inequality

\le 1

for the electron density matrix

ρ

. Nowadays it is replaced by skew symmetry of the multi-electron wave function. The replacement leads to numerous additional constraints on

ρ

, which are discussed in this letter together with their physical implications, in particular for spin magnetic moment of a multi-electron system.