atomic structure

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Offline Mohammad Salek Parvez

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atomic structure
« on: December 05, 2016, 10:09:55 AM »
here is an excerpt from a famous physicist, Prof Richard Muller of UC berkley , regarding the atomic model:
It is not the Bohr theory, nor is it the Bohr-Sommerfeld theory. They are given credit for setting the stage, but both of their theories assumed point-like particles. The theories created by Heisenberg and Schrödinger are still considered correct, although they can't derive the "fine" structure because they don't take into account relativity. The equations derived by Dirac do that, and that is currently accepted as correct. Although, again, there are refinements that come from considering the fact that the electromagnetic fields are quantized; for that, give credit to Schwinger and Feynman.

The fundamental answer to your question: Bohr and Bohr-Sommerfeld were useful approximations, but go to the Schrödinger equation for the fundamentally correct theory.