Effect of Correlation on the One-Electron Wave Function in Atoms

Abstract

The effect of correlation on the wave function of a single electron in an atom is discussed in an approximation where the exact nonlocal mass operator for the electron is approximated by a Hartree-Fock-Slater exchange potential plus a local static correlation potential. The correlation potential has been taken from recent calculations by Hedin for the electron gas over a large range of densities. The effect of such a correlation potential has been calculated in a few cases by numerical integration in first-order perturbation theory, using the functions tabulated by Herman and Skillman as zero-order solutions. The results show a small but distinct contraction of the radial wave functions and give non-negligible corrections to certain single-particle properties such as one-electron energies and the contribution to the diamagnetic susceptibility.