Structure of the Periodic System. Ground States of the Elements

Abstract

It is one of the goals of atomic physics to understand the ordering and the properties of the chemical elements in the periodic system. The empirically determined physical and chemical properties of the atoms and their dependence on the atomic number Z ought to be explainable starting from the electronic structures of the atoms. After having, in the previous chapters, discussed one-electron spectra, many-electron spectra, and the spectra of the inner shells in detail, we are now in a position to understand, at least in principle, the spectra of any atom in any state of excitation. We will outline and extend this understanding in the present chapter.