Can correlation bring electrons closer together?

Jason K. Pearson; Peter M.W. Gill; Jesus M. Ugalde; Russell J. Boyd

doi:10.1080/00268970902740563

Can correlation bring electrons closer together?

Jason K. Pearson, Peter M.W. Gill, Jesus M. Ugalde, Russell J. Boyd

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We discuss the exact Coulomb hole for the ground state of the helium atom and helium-like ions. We find that the correlated wavefunction yields a smaller probability of finding the electrons at large separations than does the Hartree-Fock wavefunction, leading to the counterintuitive conclusion that correlation brings distant electrons closer together. This effect becomes less pronounced as the nuclear charge increases.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1089-1093
Number of pages	5
Journal	Molecular Physics
Volume	107
Issue number	8-12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00268970902740563
Publication status	Published - Jan 2009

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10.1080/00268970902740563

Cite this

@article{cfc330e839b94a988142ebc03ad1dcdd,

title = "Can correlation bring electrons closer together?",

abstract = "We discuss the exact Coulomb hole for the ground state of the helium atom and helium-like ions. We find that the correlated wavefunction yields a smaller probability of finding the electrons at large separations than does the Hartree-Fock wavefunction, leading to the counterintuitive conclusion that correlation brings distant electrons closer together. This effect becomes less pronounced as the nuclear charge increases.",

keywords = "Coulomb hole, Electron correlation, Helium atom, Intracule",

author = "Pearson, {Jason K.} and Gill, {Peter M.W.} and Ugalde, {Jesus M.} and Boyd, {Russell J.}",

year = "2009",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1080/00268970902740563",

language = "English",

volume = "107",

pages = "1089--1093",

journal = "Molecular Physics",

issn = "0026-8976",