ABSTRACT
The determination of the stationary states of many-electron atoms is bound up with the solution of the many-body problem. An approximation to the solution of this problem was suggested by Hartree. His method, known as that of the self-consistent field, was generalized by Fock. The method of the self-consistent field, as well as its generalization, is based on the assumption that the wave function of a whole atom can be expressed approximately in terms of one-electron wave functions. Hartree assumed the wave function of the atom to be a mere product of electron wave functions and, consequently, did not take into consideration the symmetry properties of the wave function claimed by Pauli’s exclusion principle. The generalization of the method of the self-consistent field aims at taking the Pauli principle into account. For this purpose the wave function of the atom was assumed to have the form of a finite sum of products of one-electron wave functions; for an atom with one series electron this sum reduces to a product of two determinants formed of the Schro¨dinger one-electron wave functions.
