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Spectroscopic Selection Rules: The Role of Photon States
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Abstract
Selection rules play a central role in spectroscopy. In an introductory undergraduate course it is frequently desirable to give some justification for these rules without recourse to a formal derivation. One way of doing this is to apply conservation arguments. Two of the quantities that must be unchanged by photon absorption or emission are the overall angular momentum and parity of the system. This argument can be used to justify certain selection rules if the angular momentum and the parity of the photon are known. This article begins by showing that the assumption commonly made about the angular momentum of a photon, namely that it has "unit" angular momentum, ±h/2p, fails to account correctly for angular momentum selection rules. To avoid this difficulty, a more detailed account of the properties of a photon is necessary. In quantum electrodynamics, photons may be viewed as existing in different states according to their different angular momenta and parities. The various states can be associated with specific types of photons. It is shown how this can be used, together with vector diagrams, to provide a simple justification of angular momentum selection rules that is suitable not only for electric dipole transitions, but also for magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole transitions.
Keywords (Audience):
Upper-Division UndergraduateKeywords (Domain):
Physical ChemistryKeywords (Feature):
Advanced Chemistry Classroom and LaboratoryKeywords (Subject):
Atomic Properties / StructureCiting Articles
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- Received: August 03, 2009
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