Paper detail

Stability of atoms in the anionic domain (Z<N)

We study the stability and universal behaviour of the ionization energy of N-electron atoms with nuclear charge Z in the anionic domain (Z<N), considering the nuclear charge Z as an arbitrary (non-integral) parameter. HF and CISD ground state energy calculations were performed for systems with N and N-1 electrons to compute the ionization energies for nuclear charges ranging from the neutral atom region to the anionic instability threshold. As testing systems we choose inert gases (He-like, Ne-like and Ar-like isoelectronic sequences) and alkali metals (Li-like, Na-like, K-like sequences). From the results, it is apparent that, for inert gases case, the stability relation with N is completely inverted in the singly-charged anion region (Z=N-1) with respect to the neutral atom region (Z=N), i.e. larger systems are more stable than the smaller ones. We devised a semi-analytical model (inspired by the zero-range forces theory) which lead us to establish the ionization energy dependence on the nuclear charge near the threshold. This dependence is well observed in our numerical computations. Finally, we were able to describe qualitatively two universality classes for systems similar to inert gases and alkali metals, respectively.