A Student's Guide to Atomic Physics

296 Pages·2018·5.99 MB·English

by  Mark Fox

AStudent’sGuidetoAtomicPhysics
Thisconciseandaccessiblebookprovidesadetailedintroductiontothefundamental
principlesofatomicphysicsatanundergraduatelevel.Conceptsareexplainedinan
intuitiveway,andthebookassumesonlyabasicknowledgeofquantummechanics
andelectromagnetism.Withacompactformatspecificallydesignedforstudents,the
firstpartofthebookcoversthekeyprinciplesofthesubject,includingquantumtheory
ofthehydrogenatom,radiativetransitions,theshellmodelofmulti-electronatoms,
spin–orbitcoupling,andtheeffectsofexternalfields.Thesecondpartprovidesan
introductiontofourkeyapplicationsofatomicphysics:lasers,coldatoms,solid-state
spectroscopy,andastrophysics.Thishighlypedagogicaltextincludesworked
examplesandend-of-chapterproblemstoallowstudentstotesttheirknowledge,as
wellasnumerousdiagramsofkeyconcepts,makingitperfectforundergraduate
studentslookingforasuccinctprimerontheconceptsandapplicationsofatomic
physics.
mark foxisProfessorofPhysicsattheUniversityofSheffield.Heisalsoafellow
oftheOpticalSocietyofAmericaandtheInstituteofPhysics.Hisresearchfocuseson
opticsandphotonics,andhespecializesinsolid-stateatomsandquantumdots.Hehas
authoredtwohighlysuccessfulbooks:OpticalPropertiesofSolids(2ndedition,2010)
andQuantumOptics:AnIntroduction(2005).

OtherbooksintheStudent’sGuideseries
AStudent’sGuidetoWaves,DanielFleisch,LauraKinnaman
AStudent’sGuidetoEntropy,DonS.Lemons
AStudent’sGuidetoDimensionalAnalysis,DonS.Lemons
AStudent’sGuidetoNumericalMethods,IanH.Hutchinson
AStudent’sGuidetoLangrangiansandHamiltonians,PatrickHamill
AStudent’sGuidetotheMathematicsofAstronomy,DanielFleisch,JuliaKregonow
AStudent’sGuidetoVectorsandTensors,DanielFleisch
AStudent’sGuidetoMaxwell’sEquations,DanielFleisch
AStudent’sGuidetoFourierTransforms,J.F.James
AStudent’sGuidetoDataandErrorAnalysis,HermanJ.C.Berendsen

A Student’s Guide to Atomic Physics
MARK FOX
UniversityofSheffield
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia
314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,NewDelhi–110025,India
79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107188730
DOI:10.1017/9781316981337
©MarkFox2018
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2018
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.PadstowCornwall
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Fox,Mark(AnthonyMark),author.
Title:Astudent’sguidetoatomicphysics/MarkFox(UniversityofSheffield).
Description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversity
Press,2018.|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2017051568|ISBN9781107188730(hbk.)|ISBN1107188733
(hbk.)|ISBN9781108446310(pbk.)|ISBN1108446310(pbk.)
Subjects:LCSH:Nuclearphysics.|Atomictheory.
Classification:LCCQC173.F6752018|DDC539.7–dc23LCrecordavailable
athttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017051568
ISBN978-1-107-18873-0Hardback
ISBN978-1-108-44631-0Paperback
Additionalresourcesforthispublicationatwww.cambridge.org/9781107188730.
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy
ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Preface pagexi
Symbols xiv
QuantumNumbers xvii
PartI FundamentalPrinciples 1
1 PreliminaryConcepts 3
1.1 QuantizedEnergyStatesinAtoms 3
1.2 IonizationStatesandSpectroscopicNotation 5
1.3 GroundStatesandExcitedStates 7
1.4 AtomicSpectroscopy 10
1.5 SpectroscopicEnergyUnitsandAtomicDatabases 14
1.6 EnergyScalesinAtoms 17
Exercises 19
2 Hydrogen 20
2.1 TheBohrModelofHydrogen 20
2.2 TheQuantumMechanicsoftheHydrogenAtom 26
2.3 DegeneracyandSpin 36
2.4 Hydrogen-LikeAtoms 37
Exercises 38
3 RadiativeTransitions 40
3.1 ClassicalTheoriesofRadiatingDipoles 40
3.2 QuantumTheoryofRadiativeTransitions 42
3.3 ElectricDipole(E1)Transitions 43
3.4 SelectionRulesforE1Transitions 45
3.5 Higher-OrderTransitions 48
3.6 RadiativeLifetimes 49
vii
viii Contents
3.7 TheWidthandShapeofSpectralLines 50
3.8 NaturalBroadening 51
3.9 Collision(Pressure)Broadening 53
3.10 DopplerBroadening 53
3.11 VoigtLineShapes 56
3.12 ConvertingbetweenLineWidthsinFrequencyandWavelength
Units 56
Exercises 57
4 TheShellModelandAlkaliSpectra 60
4.1 TheCentral-FieldApproximation 60
4.2 TheShellModelandthePeriodicTable 64
4.3 JustificationoftheShellModel 70
4.4 ExperimentalEvidencefortheShellModel 71
4.5 AlkaliMetals 77
Exercises 82
5 AngularMomentum 84
5.1 ConservationofAngularMomentum 84
5.2 TypesofAngularMomentum 85
5.3 AdditionofAngularMomentum 92
5.4 Spin-OrbitCoupling 93
5.5 AngularMomentumCouplinginSingle-ElectronAtoms 93
5.6 AngularMomentumCouplinginMulti-ElectronAtoms 94
5.7 LSCoupling 95
5.8 Electric-DipoleSelectionRulesintheLSCouplingLimit 97
5.9 Hund’sRules 99
5.10 jjCoupling 102
Exercises 103
6 HeliumandExchangeSymmetry 106
6.1 ExchangeSymmetry 106
6.2 HeliumWaveFunctions 107
6.3 ThePauliExclusionPrinciple 110
6.4 TheHamiltonianforHelium 111
6.5 TheHeliumTermDiagram 114
6.6 OpticalSpectraofDivalentMetals 117
Exercises 118
7 FineStructureandNuclearEffects 119
7.1 OrbitalMagneticDipoles 119