Bohr radiusThe Bohr radius (a0) is a physical constant, approximately equal to the most probable distance between the nucleus and the electron in a hydrogen atom in its ground state. It is named after Niels Bohr, due to its role in the Bohr model of an atom. Its value is The Bohr radius is defined as where is the permittivity of free space, is the reduced Planck constant, is the mass of an electron, is the elementary charge, is the speed of light in vacuum, and is the fine-structure constant.
Spin–orbit interactionIn quantum physics, the spin–orbit interaction (also called spin–orbit effect or spin–orbit coupling) is a relativistic interaction of a particle's spin with its motion inside a potential. A key example of this phenomenon is the spin–orbit interaction leading to shifts in an electron's atomic energy levels, due to electromagnetic interaction between the electron's magnetic dipole, its orbital motion, and the electrostatic field of the positively charged nucleus.
Rydberg constantIn spectroscopy, the Rydberg constant, symbol for heavy atoms or for hydrogen, named after the Swedish physicist Johannes Rydberg, is a physical constant relating to the electromagnetic spectra of an atom. The constant first arose as an empirical fitting parameter in the Rydberg formula for the hydrogen spectral series, but Niels Bohr later showed that its value could be calculated from more fundamental constants according to his model of the atom.
Lamb shiftIn physics the Lamb shift, named after Willis Lamb, refers to an anomalous difference in energy between two electron orbitals in a hydrogen atom. The difference was not predicted by theory and it cannot be derived from the Dirac equation, which predicts identical energies. Hence the Lamb shift refers to a deviation from theory seen in the differing energies contained by the 2S1/2 and 2P1/2 orbitals of the hydrogen atom.
Azimuthal quantum numberIn quantum mechanics, the azimuthal quantum number is a quantum number for an atomic orbital that determines its orbital angular momentum and describes the shape of the orbital. The azimuthal quantum number is the second of a set of quantum numbers that describe the unique quantum state of an electron (the others being the principal quantum number n, the magnetic quantum number m_l, and the spin quantum number m_s). It is also known as the orbital angular momentum quantum number, orbital quantum number, subsidiary quantum number, or second quantum number, and is symbolized as l (pronounced ell).
Spin (physics)Spin is an intrinsic form of angular momentum carried by elementary particles, and thus by composite particles such as hadrons, atomic nuclei, and atoms. Spin should not be understood as in the "rotating internal mass" sense: spin is a quantized wave property. The existence of electron spin angular momentum is inferred from experiments, such as the Stern–Gerlach experiment, in which silver atoms were observed to possess two possible discrete angular momenta despite having no orbital angular momentum.
Principal quantum numberIn quantum mechanics, the principal quantum number (symbolized n) is one of four quantum numbers assigned to each electron in an atom to describe that electron's state. Its values are natural numbers (from 1) making it a discrete variable. Apart from the principal quantum number, the other quantum numbers for bound electrons are the azimuthal quantum number l, the magnetic quantum number ml, and the spin quantum number s. As n increases, the electron is also at a higher energy and is, therefore, less tightly bound to the nucleus.
Zeeman effectThe Zeeman effect (ˈzeɪmən; ˈzeːmɑn) is the effect of splitting of a spectral line into several components in the presence of a static magnetic field. It is named after the Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman, who discovered it in 1896 and received a Nobel prize for this discovery. It is analogous to the Stark effect, the splitting of a spectral line into several components in the presence of an electric field.
Hydrogen-like atomA hydrogen-like atom (or hydrogenic atom) is any atom or ion with a single valence electron. These atoms are isoelectronic with hydrogen. Examples of hydrogen-like atoms include, but are not limited to, hydrogen itself, all alkali metals such as Rb and Cs, singly ionized alkaline earth metals such as Ca+ and Sr+ and other ions such as He+, Li2+, and Be3+ and isotopes of any of the above. A hydrogen-like atom includes a positively charged core consisting of the atomic nucleus and any core electrons as well as a single valence electron.
Electron magnetic momentIn atomic physics, the electron magnetic moment, or more specifically the electron magnetic dipole moment, is the magnetic moment of an electron resulting from its intrinsic properties of spin and electric charge. The value of the electron magnetic moment (symbol μe) is In units of the Bohr magneton (μB), it is -1.00115965218059μB, a value that was measured with a relative accuracy of 1.3e-13. The electron is a charged particle with charge −e, where e is the unit of elementary charge.
Degenerate energy levelsIn quantum mechanics, an energy level is degenerate if it corresponds to two or more different measurable states of a quantum system. Conversely, two or more different states of a quantum mechanical system are said to be degenerate if they give the same value of energy upon measurement. The number of different states corresponding to a particular energy level is known as the degree of degeneracy (or simply the degeneracy) of the level.
Bohr modelIn atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model of the atom, presented by Niels Bohr and Ernest Rutherford in 1913, consists of a small, dense nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons. It is analogous to the structure of the Solar System, but with attraction provided by electrostatic force rather than gravity, and with the electron energies quantized (assuming only discrete values).
Hydrogen atomA hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral atom contains a single positively charged proton and a single negatively charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force. Atomic hydrogen constitutes about 75% of the baryonic mass of the universe. In everyday life on Earth, isolated hydrogen atoms (called "atomic hydrogen") are extremely rare. Instead, a hydrogen atom tends to combine with other atoms in compounds, or with another hydrogen atom to form ordinary (diatomic) hydrogen gas, H2.
Perturbation theory (quantum mechanics)In quantum mechanics, perturbation theory is a set of approximation schemes directly related to mathematical perturbation for describing a complicated quantum system in terms of a simpler one. The idea is to start with a simple system for which a mathematical solution is known, and add an additional "perturbing" Hamiltonian representing a weak disturbance to the system. If the disturbance is not too large, the various physical quantities associated with the perturbed system (e.g.
Angular momentum couplingIn quantum mechanics, the procedure of constructing eigenstates of total angular momentum out of eigenstates of separate angular momenta is called angular momentum coupling. For instance, the orbit and spin of a single particle can interact through spin–orbit interaction, in which case the complete physical picture must include spin–orbit coupling. Or two charged particles, each with a well-defined angular momentum, may interact by Coulomb forces, in which case coupling of the two one-particle angular momenta to a total angular momentum is a useful step in the solution of the two-particle Schrödinger equation.
ZitterbewegungIn physics, the zitterbewegung (ˈtsɪtɐ.bəˌveːɡʊŋ, ) is the theoretical prediction of a rapid oscillatory motion of elementary particles that obey relativistic wave equations. This prediction was first discussed by Gregory Breit in 1928 and later by Erwin Schrödinger in 1930 as a result of analysis of the wave packet solutions of the Dirac equation for relativistic electrons in free space, in which an interference between positive and negative energy states produces an apparent fluctuation (up to the speed of light) of the position of an electron around the median, with an angular frequency of 2mc2/ħ, or approximately 1.
Hyperfine structureIn atomic physics, hyperfine structure is defined by small shifts in otherwise degenerate energy levels and the resulting splittings in those energy levels of atoms, molecules, and ions, due to electromagnetic multipole interaction between the nucleus and electron clouds. In atoms, hyperfine structure arises from the energy of the nuclear magnetic dipole moment interacting with the magnetic field generated by the electrons and the energy of the nuclear electric quadrupole moment in the electric field gradient due to the distribution of charge within the atom.
Quantum fluctuationIn quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (also known as a vacuum state fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary random change in the amount of energy in a point in space, as prescribed by Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. They are minute random fluctuations in the values of the fields which represent elementary particles, such as electric and magnetic fields which represent the electromagnetic force carried by photons, W and Z fields which carry the weak force, and gluon fields which carry the strong force.
Spin-1/2In quantum mechanics, spin is an intrinsic property of all elementary particles. All known fermions, the particles that constitute ordinary matter, have a spin of 1/2. The spin number describes how many symmetrical facets a particle has in one full rotation; a spin of 1/2 means that the particle must be rotated by two full turns (through 720°) before it has the same configuration as when it started. Particles having net spin 1/2 include the proton, neutron, electron, neutrino, and quarks.
Spin quantum numberIn physics, the spin quantum number is a quantum number (designated s) that describes the intrinsic angular momentum (or spin angular momentum, or simply spin) of an electron or other particle. It has the same value for all particles of the same type, such as s = 1/2 for all electrons. It is an integer for all bosons, such as photons, and a half-odd-integer for all fermions, such as electrons and protons. The component of the spin along a specified axis is given by the spin magnetic quantum number, conventionally written ms.
