Robert L. Brooks is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He received his Ph.D. in Atomic Physics at the University of Alberta doing beam-foil spectroscopy and continued these studies at Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. He took a Research Associate position at the University of Guelph in 1981, became a University Research Fellow in 1984, and full professor in 1995. He is best known for his spectroscopic studies of cryogenic hydrogen, deuterium and helium undergoing proton-beam irradiation. He has been a visiting scientist at Risr National Laboratory in Roskilde, Denmark at HASYLAB in Hamburg, Germany and at the Institute of Physics and Astronomy in Aarhus, Denmark. He has been chair of the Division of Atomic and Molecular Physics of the Canadian Association of Physicists, director of the Guelph-Waterloo Physics Institute and chair of the Guelph physics department. Professor Brooks has taught university physics from the first year to the graduate level and atomic and molecular physics to senior undergraduates for over 20 years.

Treats complex atoms in detail

The quantum mechanics of multi-electron atomic structure is developed in a manner that is clear and accessible for senior physics majors

Each chapter contains practice problems at key points to emphasize and reinforce important concepts

Includes several appendices containing reference constants and in-depth discussions of selected topics

Concise developments of fundamental concepts in atomic and molecular physics, including molecular orbital theory as developed and applied to the hydrogen molecular ion and neutral molecule

Includes quantum mechanical analysis using prolate spheroidal coordinates

Includes supplementary material: [...]

Part I: Atoms.- Central Forces and Angular Momentum.- Complex Atoms.- Electro- and Magnetostatic Interactions.- Transition Probabilities.- Part II: Molecules.- Electronic Structure of Diatomic Molecules.- Vibrations and Rotations of Diatomic Molecules.- Appendix A. Some Atomic Constants.- Appendix B. Polynomials and Spherical Harmonics.- Appendix C. Some Tensor Background.- Appendix D. Magnetic Dipole Interaction Energy.