What is the Virial Theorem and its significance in Atomic Physics?

[piareround]

So my Atomic Physics professor today was talking about some called the "Virial theorem" in relation to Bohr Model of the H-atom, which in my 5 years of college physics I had never heard of >_<;; . It turns out that I had seen equations that use concept of the Potential "==" Kinetic Energy, I just never heard it called Virial theorem.

Since I kind of too embarassed to ask my physics professor this, does anyone know a good book about Virial Theorem and its various uses in physics? Anything that does it from the perspective of atomic physics would be helpful too.

 

[kanato]

Wikipedia actually has a nice article on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virial_theorem

 

[genneth]

Wikipedia actually has a fairly decent article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virial_theorem

However, notice that there is not one virial theorem. We can talk of classical vs quantum, time average vs ensemble average, various different interactions and energies, etc.

 

[Ken G]

George Collins wrote an entire book on the virial theorem, with that name, from an astronomical perspective. Classical descriptions of atoms would then be just a (very) small analog of a whole star.

 

[Zaharov]

This's theorem said that system in which the forces are inversely proportional to the square of the distance can not be in a state of stable equilibrium

 

[alxm]

This's theorem said that system in which the forces are inversely proportional to the square of the distance can not be in a state of stable equilibrium

I think you mean Earnshaw's Theorem?

 

[Zaharov]

I think you mean Earnshaw's Theorem?

this general conclusion virial theorem
KITTEL "Mechanics"

 

[Ken G]

The virial theorem is more general than something that is true of inverse-square forces.

 

[Gokul43201]

For easy reading, see how Baez treats the inverse square case: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/virial.html