Does Hund's Rule Apply to Electrons in Different n Shells?

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Hund's rule applies primarily to the filling of subshells rather than the combination of angular momenta from different quantum number n shells. The total angular momentum L of an atom can be derived from the individual angular momentum quantum numbers of its electrons. The rule states that the lowest-energy state is achieved by maximizing both the total spin S and the total angular momentum L. This principle holds true regardless of whether the electrons are in the same or different shells. Therefore, Hund's rule remains relevant across varying quantum states.
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Does Hund's rule also apply when combining the angular momenta of electrons from shells with DIFFERENT quantum number n?
 
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I'm not sure of what you mean. Hund's rule does not have to do with "combining angular momenta", but rather with filling subshells.
 
Suppose there are n electrons with angular momentum quantum numbers L1, L2, L3, ..., Ln. The total angular momentum L of the atom can be any number between the minimum and the maximum of all non-negative combinations +/- L1 +/- L2 +/- L3 ... +/- Ln (in steps of 1). Same about combinations of the spin (the spin quantum numbers of the single electrons are always 1/2) to the total spin S of the atom.

Hund's rule says that the lowest-energy state among all the possible states is the state which has the greatest S and the greatest L (for that S).
 
Originally posted by salsero
Suppose there are n electrons with angular momentum quantum numbers L1, L2, L3, ..., Ln. The total angular momentum L of the atom can be any number between the minimum and the maximum of all non-negative combinations +/- L1 +/- L2 +/- L3 ... +/- Ln (in steps of 1). Same about combinations of the spin (the spin quantum numbers of the single electrons are always 1/2) to the total spin S of the atom.

Hund's rule says that the lowest-energy state among all the possible states is the state which has the greatest S and the greatest L (for that S).

If it's true in two cases, it's true in all (in this case)

Best wishes
 
What?
 
Thread 'Unexpected irregular reflection signal from a high-finesse cavity'

Thread 'Unexpected irregular reflection signal from a high-finesse cavity'

I am observing an irregular, aperiodic noise pattern in the reflection signal of a high-finesse optical cavity (finesse ≈ 20,000). The cavity is normally operated using a standard Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) locking configuration, where an EOM provides phase modulation. The signals shown in the attached figures were recorded with the modulation turned off. Under these conditions, when scanning the laser frequency across a cavity resonance, I expected to observe a simple reflection dip. Instead...
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