Electronic wave functions II. A calculation for the ground state of the beryllium atom

Source abstract

Abstract An approximate wave function expressed in terms of exponential functions, spherical harmonics, etc., with numerical coefficients has been calculated for the ground state of the beryllium atom . Judged by the energy criterion this gives a more accurate result than the Hartree result which was the best previously known. This has been calculated as a trial of a fresh method of calculating atomic wave functions. A linear combination of Slater determinants is treated by the variational method. The results suggest that this will provide a more powerful and convenient method than has previously been available for atoms with more than two electrons.