Relativistic virial theorem for atoms

A relativistic virial theorem is derived for atoms in a general manner. The virial ratio consists of the usual V/T term and a correction term W/T, where T, V, and W are the kinetic energy, the potential energy, and correction terms, respectively. Explicit forms of W are presented for four specific nuclear potential models. Numerical calculations for a uniform nuclear charge model show that the magnitude of the correction term W/T increases with increasing atomic numbers and that it modifies the ratio V/T considerably for atoms with large atomic numbers in particular. Received: 21 November 2000 / Accepted: 8 January 2001 / Published online: 3 April 2001