Flashcards: Atomic physics

In physics, the Thomas precession, named after Llewellyn Thomas, is a relativistic correction that applies to the spin of an elementary particle or the rotation of a macroscopic gyroscope and relates the angular velocity of the spin of a particle following a curvilinear orbit to the angular velocity of the orbital motion.

In atomic physics, hyperfine structure is the different effects leading to small shifts and splittings in the energy levels of atoms, molecules and ions.

In quantum mechanics, a boson (/ˈboʊsɒn/, /ˈboʊzɒn/) is a particle that follows Bose–Einstein statistics.

Bremsstrahlung (German pronunciation: [ˈbʁɛmsˌʃtʁaːlʊŋ] , from bremsen "to brake" and Strahlung "radiation"; i.e., "braking radiation" or "deceleration radiation") is electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of a charged particle when deflected by another charged particle, typically an electron by an atomic nucleus.

In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule (or other physical structure) in atomic or molecular orbitals.

In atomic physics, Hund's rules refers to a set of rules that German physicist Friedrich Hund formulated around 1927, which are used to determine the term symbol that corresponds to the ground state of a multi-electron atom.

Ionization is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons to form ions, often in conjunction with other chemical changes.

X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of electromagnetic radiation.

Raman scattering or the Raman effect /ˈrɑːmən/ is the inelastic scattering of a photon upon interaction with matter.

Compton scattering, discovered by Arthur Holly Compton, is the inelastic scattering of a photon by a charged particle, usually an electron.

In quantum chemistry, Slater's rules provide numerical values for the effective nuclear charge concept.

The shielding effect describes the attraction between an electron and the nucleus in any atom with more than one electron shell.

In physics, relativistic quantum mechanics (RQM) is any Poincaré covariant formulation of quantum mechanics (QM).

In quantum mechanics, the total angular momentum quantum number parameterises the total angular momentum of a given particle, by combining its orbital angular momentum and its intrinsic angular momentum (i.e., its spin).

In laser cooling, the Boltzmann constant times the recoil temperature is equal to the recoil energy deposited in a single atom initially at rest by the spontaneous emission of a single photon.

In quantum mechanics, the procedure of constructing eigenstates of total angular momentum out of eigenstates of separate angular momenta is called angular momentum coupling.