A quantum defect is a correction for the Coulomb field , due to the fact that in atoms more complex than hydrogen that have several electrons, each electron is located in the averaged field of the nucleus and other electrons.
Reedberg introduced to describe the spectral series of alkali metal atoms [1] .
It is characteristic of alkali metals that the energy of stationary states depends not only on the principal quantum number n , but also on the Orbital quantum number l .
Notes
- ↑ Quantum defect - an article from the Physical Encyclopedia