Introduction to Multi-Electron Atoms

Abstract

Some of the basic themes, or foundational concepts and principles of quantum mechanics (Planck’s quantization, Schrödinger’s equation, de Broglie’s wavelength, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, etc.) were introduced in Chapter 1. There is another basic principle, Pauli’s exclusion principle, which was not introduced there but which will be considered in this chapter. This principle was actually postulated prior to the main developments of post-Bohr quantum mechanics, and has had a spectacular impact in regards to the understanding of why atoms exhibit different chemical properties. The principle resolves the question, among others, namely of what determines the arrangements of electrons about a nucleus, a question which we touch on briefly, or tangentially.