Intended for advanced students of physics, chemistry, and related disciplines, this text treats the quantum theory of atoms and ions within the framework of self-consistent fields. It treats the structure and spectra of atoms and ions, their behavior in external fields, and their interactions, including collisions. Data needed for the analysis of collisions and other atomic processes are also included, making the book useful as a reference for researchers as well as students. In the main text, simple and convincing methods are used to explain the fundamental properties of atoms, molecules, and clusters; details and more advanced aspects of these topics are treated in the problems at the end of each chapter. The first part of the book is devoted to properties of atoms and ions considered as quantum systems of electrons orbiting a heavy Coulomb center. Self-consistent fields and the shell model give a logical and consistent picture, and provide reliable models for the analysis of atomic properties. The second part deals with interactions and collisions of particles -- including bound systems, such as molecules, clusters, and solids. The aim here is to relate the internal structure of the atoms to the interactions between them, providing useful insights for applications; the accompanying data in tables, charts, and spectra complement the theoretical discussion.

From the reviews:

"As a reference book on atomic physics, it is probably quite comprehensive. A really good idea of the author has been to cover the basic principles in the main text of each chapter and reserve the last third of each chapter for questions with detailed answers involving a large amount of mathematics. it may be very useful for those who already have a profound understanding of atomic physics but want to refresh their knowledge ." (Jan Posthumus, Physicalia, Vol. 26 (1), 2004)

Autorentext

R. Stephen Berry is James Franck Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Chemistry Department at The University of Chicago. He has studied phase changes and phase equilibria for twenty years. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., and has been author or coauthor of five books prior to this. He and his coauthor of this book have known each other for over 40 years, from the time both were working on atomic collision processes. They have been collaborating for about 10 years, in their studies of clusters and of phase transitions. Boris M. Smirnov is a distinguished physicist who worked for many years at the Institute for Ball Lightning, prior to his joining the Institute for High Temperatures in Moscow.

Inhalt
Quantum Mechanics and the Structure of Structure of Atoms and Ions.- The Development and Concepts of Atomic Physics.- The Hydrogen Atom.- Two-Electron Atoms and Ions.- Light Atoms.- The Structure of Heavy Atoms.- Excited Atoms.- Positive and Negative Ions.- The Autoionization States of Atoms and Ions.- Atoms in Interactions and Collisions.- Atoms in External Fields.- Interactions Involving Atoms and Ions.- Diatomic Molecules.- Atom Interaction in Systems of Many Bound Atoms.- Elastic Collisions of Atomic Particles.- Resonant Processes in Slow Atomic Collisions.- Inelastic Slow Atomic Collisions.- Collisions with Transitions in States of Continuous and Quasi-Continuous Spectra.