The Non-Rydberg spectroscopy of atoms

Abstract

Abstract Non-Rydberg effects in the photoabsorption spectra of atoms are described. They are observed at photon energies which correspond to the creation of a vacancy within the subvalence shells of the atom or to the simultaneous excitation of two electrons. The importance of synchrotron radiation as an experimental tool for the investigation of non-Rydberg effects is stressed, and many examples are given. Many of the non-Rydberg properties can be understood by analogy with elementary one dimensional potential well theory.