1.Department of Mathematical Sciences,University of Copenhagen,Copenhagen,Denmark
Abstract:
We prove that the maximum number Nc of non-relativistic electrons that a nucleus of charge Z can bind is less than 1.22Z + 3Z1/3. This improves Lieb’s upper bound Nc < 2Z + 1 Lieb (Phys Rev A 29:3018–3028, 1984) when Z ≥ 6. Our method also applies to non-relativistic atoms in magnetic field and to pseudo-relativistic atoms. We show that in these cases, under appropriate conditions, \({\limsup_{Z \to \infty}N_c/Z \le 1.22}\).