# Question about spectroscopic notation

1. May 30, 2005

### Kalimaa23

Greetings,

I'm a bit confused about the notation for multi-electron orbitals.
For example, you have the notation

$$^{1}D_{2}$$,

which mean a singlet with S=0 L=2, J=2, right?

Now I've come across the notation (in Slater)

$$^{1}D_{2}^{0}$$

What's the deal with the extra superscript 0?

2. May 30, 2005

### Gokul43201

Staff Emeritus
The std. notation, as I'm sure you know is 2S+1XJ, where X = S,P,D,F.

I've also come across notation that appends nlx in front of the std. notation. Where this extra addition is simply the configuration of the outermost subshell.

I have no idea what notation Slater is using. But keep in mind that he is a physicist (and hence loathes spectroscopists despite feeding off their data ) and nearly all his books were written in the 60s (or thereabouts).

3. May 30, 2005

### Gokul43201

Staff Emeritus
This is correct. Until better info comes along, you can feel safe ignoring the 0.

4. Mar 29, 2010

### passingthru

The superscript o after the subshell indicates odd parity. When the parity is even, there is no superscript. I hesitate to venture further, because it's a little fuzzy to me as well. I think that the odd parity results if you get a negative value when summing spins, like if you have a total negative spin. This thread is so old, I don't know if anybody even cares.