Atomic & Molecular Physics
The physics of individual atoms and molecules: why atoms emit light at sharp colours, how electrons fill shells, how atoms bond, and how lasers can cool atoms to billionths of a degree.
Atomic and molecular physics is the branch of physics that studies the structure of atoms and molecules, their energy levels, and their interactions with electromagnetic radiation and with each other, using quantum mechanics to explain spectra, chemical bonding and precision measurement.
What this covers
Atomic physics was the proving ground of quantum mechanics: the sharp spectral lines of hydrogen led to Bohr's model and then to Schrödinger's equation. Today the field underpins chemistry, the periodic table, lasers, atomic clocks that define the second, and the ultracold atomic gases used to simulate other quantum systems. This domain covers atomic structure, molecular physics, laser–atom interactions, and X-ray and high-energy radiation processes.
Atomic Structure
- Hydrogen Spectrum [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Bohr Model [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Multi Electron Atoms [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Electron Configuration [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- The Periodic Table (Physics) [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Screening and Shielding [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Hund's Rules [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Selection Rules [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
Molecular Physics
- Molecular Bonding [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Born-Oppenheimer Approximation [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Molecular Orbital Theory [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Vibrational Modes [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Rotational Spectra [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Vibrational Spectra [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Electronic Transitions [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
Laser & Atom Interactions
- Laser Cooling [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Magneto-Optical Trap [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Bose-Einstein Condensation (Atoms) [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Atomic Clocks [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Optical Lattices [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
X-Rays & Radiation
- X-Rays [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Photoionisation [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Auger Effect [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Compton Scattering [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Pair Production [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
Already covered elsewhere in the Codex
No full entries in this domain are published yet. These live pages, in other domains, already cover closely related material:
- Spin — the property behind shell structure and fine structure
- Uncertainty Principle — why electrons do not fall into the nucleus
- Photoelectric Effect — photons ejecting electrons
- Schrödinger Equation — the equation behind atomic orbitals
- Atomic Nucleus — the centre of the atom
- Bose-Einstein Condensation — achieved first with laser-cooled atoms
- Niels Bohr — the Bohr model of the atom
- Wolfgang Pauli — the exclusion principle and the periodic table
Sources
- Foot, C.J. (2005). Atomic Physics. Oxford University Press.
- Bransden, B.H., Joachain, C.J. (2003). Physics of Atoms and Molecules (2nd ed.). Pearson.