Lecture

Quantum Mechanics: Atomic Spectra

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In course

CH-110: Advanced general chemistry I

Le cours comporte deux parties. Les bases de la thermodynamique des équilibres et de la cinétique des réactions sont introduites dans l'une d'elles. Les premières notions de chimie quantique sur les électrons et les liaisons chimiques, exemplifiées en chim ...

Description

This lecture delves into the principles of quantum mechanics, focusing on the atomic spectra and the failures of classical mechanics to explain them. Starting with the challenges faced by classical mechanics in describing the atom, the instructor covers topics such as the continuous spectrum of light, the discrete spectrum of hydrogen, the Bohr model, and the experiments that led to the development of quantum mechanics. Through discussions on the blackbody radiation model, the photoelectric effect, and the quantization of energy, students gain insights into the corpuscular nature of light and the quantized behavior of energy in atoms.

Instructors (7)

Philippe Schwaller

Beat Fierz

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Paria Khalafi, Wei Cai, Pierre Alexander Miranda Herrera, Andrei Zhauniarovich, Matteo Nicolas Doudin, Zongqing Li, Enguerran Majerus, Po-Han Chang, Iana Berlina, Yuji Kamei Past EPFL PhD Students Aurore Marie-France Delachat, Sinan Kilic, Louise Catherine Bryan, Andreas Linus Bachmann, Ninad Dilip Agashe, Nora Guidotti, Maxime Nicolas Mivelaz, Kristina Makasheva, Alexandra Teslenko, Pauline Franz, Salome Riccarda Püntener, Ly Phillippe Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Dani

Angela Steinauer

Since 2022: Head of the Laboratory of Biomolecular Engineering and Nanomedicine (LIBN), EPFL (Switzerland)2019-2021: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow at ETHZ (Switzerland)2018: Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from Yale University (USA)2007-2012: B.Sc. & M.Sc. in Chemistry from University of Zurich (Switzerland) Teaching & PhD PhD Students Diogo Miguel De Abreu Viegas, Georges Barnikol, Oliver Dennis, Andrea Elizabeth Melgar Aguilar, Paula Oeser, Manutsawee Thanaburakorn Courses Advanced general chemistry I CH

Jacques-Edouard Moser

Jacques-Edouard Moser is titular professor in physical chemistry and is currently directing the Group for Photochemical Dynamics (Moser Group) of EPFL. He is a graduate of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, where he received a diploma degree (MSc) in chemical engineering in 1982. After two stays in 1984 and 1985 at Concordia University in Montréal (Canada), he earned in 1986 his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at EPFL (Michael Grätzel, thesis advisor). In 1986, he joined the Eastman Kodak Corporate Research Laboratories at Rochester (NY, USA) as a postdoctoral fellow and was later associated with the NSF Center for Photoinduced Electron Transfer at the University of Rochester. Returning to Switzerland, he was appointed as a lecturer of physical chemistry at EPFL in 1992 and was awarded the habilitation and the venia legendi in 1998. He is titular professor since 2005.His research activity focuses on the study of the dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer and charge carrier separation at donor-acceptor heterojunctions and in nanostructured semiconductors. He is the author and co-author of ca 200 scientific papers (H-index 75). He currently teaches general physical chemistry to freshmen students in chemistry. He gives two classes on general- and redox photochemistry in the MSc program in chemistry and chemical engineering and the doctoral programs in energy and photonics. Jacques-E. Moser presided the Swiss Society of Photochemistry and Photophysics (1995-1998) and chaired the jury of the Grammaticakis-Neumann international prize in photochemistry (1999-2001). He was a member of the board of the Swiss Chemical Society (2007-2012). He served as a member of the standing committee of the European Photochemistry Association (1992-2000) and of the executive committee of the division for fundamental research of the Swiss Chemical Society (1999-2014). He was the director of the Section of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of EPFL and a member of the direction of the School of Basic Sciences from 2007 to 2015.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Atomic physics: Topics in atomic physics

Related concepts (32)

Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science. Classical physics, the collection of theories that existed before the advent of quantum mechanics, describes many aspects of nature at an ordinary (macroscopic) scale, but is not sufficient for describing them at small (atomic and subatomic) scales.

Bohr model

In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model of the atom, presented by Niels Bohr and Ernest Rutherford in 1913, consists of a small, dense nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons. It is analogous to the structure of the Solar System, but with attraction provided by electrostatic force rather than gravity, and with the electron energies quantized (assuming only discrete values).

Introduction to quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is the study of matter and its interactions with energy on the scale of atomic and subatomic particles. By contrast, classical physics explains matter and energy only on a scale familiar to human experience, including the behavior of astronomical bodies such as the moon. Classical physics is still used in much of modern science and technology. However, towards the end of the 19th century, scientists discovered phenomena in both the large (macro) and the small (micro) worlds that classical physics could not explain.

Energy level

A quantum mechanical system or particle that is bound—that is, confined spatially—can only take on certain discrete values of energy, called energy levels. This contrasts with classical particles, which can have any amount of energy. The term is commonly used for the energy levels of the electrons in atoms, ions, or molecules, which are bound by the electric field of the nucleus, but can also refer to energy levels of nuclei or vibrational or rotational energy levels in molecules.

Interpretations of quantum mechanics

An interpretation of quantum mechanics is an attempt to explain how the mathematical theory of quantum mechanics might correspond to experienced reality. Although quantum mechanics has held up to rigorous and extremely precise tests in an extraordinarily broad range of experiments, there exist a number of contending schools of thought over their interpretation. These views on interpretation differ on such fundamental questions as whether quantum mechanics is deterministic or stochastic, local or non-local, which elements of quantum mechanics can be considered real, and what the nature of measurement is, among other matters.

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