The angular momentum distribution of electrons in large atoms and its deviation from Madelung's rule

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that in large atoms, the distribution of electron angular momentum follows the Thomas-Fermi model but deviates from Madelung's rule, especially as atomic number increases.

Contribution

It reveals the asymptotic behavior of electron angular momentum distribution in large atoms and highlights deviations from Madelung's rule.

Findings

Angular momentum distribution follows Thomas-Fermi model in large atoms

Deviations from Madelung's rule become significant for large atomic numbers

Provides insight into atomic structure beyond traditional rules

Abstract

We show that the angular momentum distribution of neutral atoms, in the sense of occupation numbers, follows the Thomas-Fermi angular momentum distribution in the limit of large atomic number. In particular, we show that the angular momentum distribution of large atoms deviates from the well-known Madelung rule.