Operator Techniques in Atomic Spectroscopy

In this work, Brian Judd makes the operator techniques of mathematicians comprehensible to physicists and chemists. He extends existing methods so that they can handle more complex molecules and calculate their energy levels. It is then a short step to the mathematical analysis of spectra.

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In the 1920s, when quantum mechanics was in its infancy, chemists and solid state physicists had little choice but to manipulate unwieldy equations to determine the properties of even the simplest molecules. When mathematicians turned their attention to the equations of quantum mechanics, they discovered that these could be expressed in terms of group theory, and from group theory it was a short step to operator methods. In this book, first published in 1963, Brian Judd made the operator techniques of mathematicians comprehensible to physicists and chemists. He extended the existing methods so that they could handle heavier, more complex molecules and calculate their energy levels, and from there, it was another short step to the mathematical analysis of spectra. The book provides an introduction to continuous groups for physicists and chemists.