Atomic Structure (IOP Concise Physics)

A knowledge of atomic theory should be an essential part of every physicist's and chemist's toolkit. This book provides an introduction to the basic ideas that govern our understanding of microscopic matter, and the essential features of atomic structure and spectra are presented in a direct and easily accessible manner. Semi-classical ideas are reviewed and an introduction to the quantum mechanics of one and two electron systems and their interaction with external electromagnetic fields is featured. Multielectron atoms are also introduced, and the key methods for calculating their properties reviewed.

Colm T. Whelan, PhD, is a Professor of Physics and an Eminent Scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He received his PhD in Theoretical Atomic Physics from the University of Cambridge in 1985 and was awarded a ScD also from Cambridge in 2001. He is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics (UK). He has over 30 years of experience in the teaching of physics.