Neutral atoms behave much like classical spherical capacitors

Journal Article · Fri Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.74.034501· OSTI ID:20857778

Ellenbogen, James C ^[1]

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1. Nanosystems Group, The MITRE Corporation, McLean, Virginia 22102 (United States)

The scaling of the capacitance with radius is explored in detail for neutral atoms, and it is found that they behave much like macroscopic spherical capacitors. The quantum capacitances of atoms scale as a linear function of the mean radii of their highest occupied orbitals. The slopes of the linear scaling lines include a dimensionless constant of proportionality {kappa} that is somewhat analogous to a dielectric constant, but for individual atoms. The slope and {kappa} assume discrete values characteristic of elements in different regions of the periodic table. These observations provide a different, electrostatics-based way of understanding the periodic behavior of the elements.

• OSTI ID: 20857778
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 74, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.034501; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
CAPACITANCE
CAPACITORS
ELECTROSTATICS
PERIODICITY
PERMITTIVITY
QUANTUM MECHANICS
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION