Biography:Erwin Madelung

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Erwin Madelung
Madelung memorial image
Madelung memorial image
Born 18 May 1881
Bonn, Germany
Died 1 August 1972
Frankfurt am Main, Germany


Known for Madelung rule; Madelung equations; quantum hydrodynamics

Erwin Madelung (1881-1972) was a German physicist associated with the Madelung rule for orbital filling and with a hydrodynamic formulation of quantum mechanics.

Electron configurations

The Madelung rule is a practical ordering rule for filling atomic orbitals. It is widely used in elementary descriptions of electron configuration, even though real atomic structure can include exceptions due to electron correlations and relativistic effects.

Madelung also rewrote the Schrödinger equation in a fluid-like form, an approach now called the Madelung equations.

References


Author: Harold Foppele