CORE CHARGE POLARIZATION EFFECTS IN ATOMIC SYSTEMS

A semiclassical, self-consistent and unified formulation of core charge polarisation effects in atomic systems is presented. The method is immediately applicable to alkali-like atomic systems but may be more generally useful. The formulation encompasses the simple shell model of ionic crystals, the atomic dipole polarisabilities in electric fields, the effective dipolar scattering interaction, and the total effective one-electron potential energy for the valence electron. The expressions are presented in forms that can be readily assimilated into standard calculations. Some results are compared with previous calculations for atomic caesium. It appears that the authors have a valid and useful formulation and that, at least for atomic caesium, the major portion of the correlation effects, to be added to a Hartree-Fock calculation, are given simply by the dipolar contribution.