Electronic,spectra, and spin orbit interaction for FrAr van der Waals system

The potential energy curves and spectroscopic constants of the ground and many excited states of the FrAr van der Waals system have been determined using a one‐electron pseudopotential approach. The Fr⁺ core and the electron–Ar interactions are replaced by effective potentials. The Fr⁺Ar core–core interaction is incorporated using the accurate CCSD(T) potential of Hickling et al. (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2004, 6, 4233). This approach reduces the number of active electrons of the FrAr van der Waals system to only one valence electron, which permits the use of very large basis sets for the Fr and Ar atoms. Using this technique, the potential energy curves of the ground and many excited states are calculated at the self consistent field (SCF) level. In addition, the spin–orbit interaction is also considered using the semiempirical scheme for the states dissociating into Fr (7p) and Fr (8p). The FrAr system is not studied previously and its potential interactions, spectroscopic constants and dipole functions are presented here for the first time. Furthermore, we have predicted the X²Σ⁺–A²Π_1/2, X²Σ⁺–AΠ_3/2, X²Σ⁺–B²Σ_1/2⁺, X²Σ⁺–3²Π_1/2, X²Σ⁺–3²Π_3/2, and X²Σ⁺–5²Σ_1/2⁺ absorption spectra. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electronic structure of francium

This article presents the first calculations of the electronic structure of francium for the bcc, fcc, and hcp structures, using the linearized augmented plane wave (LAPW) method. Both the local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) were used to calculate the electronic structure and total energy of francium (Fr). The GGA and LDA both found the total energy of the hcp structure to be slightly below that of the fcc and bcc structures, respectively. This is in agreement with similar results for the other alkali metals where the bcc structure is found not to be the ground state in contradiction to experiment. The equilibrium lattice constant, bulk modulus, and superconductivity parameters were calculated. Calculations of the enthalpy of the system suggest a structural transition from hcp to bcc under a pressure of 0.57 GPa. Using the McMillan‐Gaspari‐Gyorffy theories, we found that under further pressures, in the range of 3–14 GPa, Fr could be a superconductor with critical temperature up to 7 K. This is consistent with the other alkali metals and originates from an increase of the d‐like density of states at the Fermi level, which makes the alkali metals behave like transition metals. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Isotopes through the looking glass

Nuclear distributions affect many aspects of atomic spectra. As an example, recent experimental results for the hyperfine anomaly in Fr isotopes are considered. These depend on nuclear charge and magnetization distributions. The variations in charge radii for these isotopes were studied earlier by measuring optical isotope shifts. The hyperfine anomalies for the odd-odd isotopes involve the neutron distributions, of interest for studies of parity nonconserving effects along a chain of isotopes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Calculation of Rydberg energy levels for the francium atom

Based on the weakest bound electron potential model theory, the Rydberg energy levels and quantum defects of the $np^{2}$P$^{\circ}_{1 / 2}$ ($n$ = 7--50) and $np^{2}$P$^{\circ}_{3 / 2}$ ($n$ =7--50) spectrum series for the francium atom are calculated. The calculated results are in excellent agreement with the 48 measured levels, and 40 energy levels for highly excited states are predicted.