Atomic Structure Calculations
In 1921, a visit by Niels Bohr to Cambridge inspired Douglas to apply his numerical skills to Bohr’s theory of the atom, for which he obtained his Ph.D. in 1926 - his advisor was Ernest Rutherford. With the publication of Schrödinger’s equation in the same year, Douglas was able to apply his knowledge of differential equations and numerical analysis to the new quantum theory. He derived the Hartree equations for the distribution of electrons in an atom and proposed the self-consistent field method for their solution. The wavefunctions from this theory did not satisfy the Pauli exclusion principle for which Slater showed that determinantal functions are required. V. Fock published the ``equations with exchange’’ now known as Hartree-Fock equations. These are considerably more demanding computationally even with the efficient methods Hartree proposed for the calculation of exchange contributions.
Read more about this topic: Douglas Hartree
Famous quotes containing the words atomic, structure and/or calculations:
“The atomic bomb certainly is the most powerful of all weapons, but it is conclusively powerful and effective only in the hands of the nation which controls the sky.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“I’m a Sunday School teacher, and I’ve always known that the structure of law is founded on the Christian ethic that you shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself—a very high and perfect standard. We all know the fallibility of man, and the contentions in society, as described by Reinhold Niebuhr and many others, don’t permit us to achieve perfection.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Nowhere are our calculations more frequently upset than in war.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)