Orbitals - their mathematics, physics and chemistry.

John Ogilvie, CECM

Thursday March 24th, 10:30am, K9509.

Abstract

An orbital is a solution of the Schroedinger equation for an atom
with one electron.  This solution is practicable in not only spherical
polar coordinates, of which every chemist is aware, but also paraboloidal
coordinates, of which some physicists but no chemist is aware, and even
in ellipsoical and spheroconical coordinates, for which direct solutions
have been obtained in Maple for the first time.  The implications of
the 'shapes' of the orbitals, and even the quantum numbers that 
characterise these functions, are discussed.  There is an urgent need to
revise the thinking and teaching about orbitals in chemistry and physics.