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Atomic Spectroscopy:
A Compendium of Basic Ideas, Notation, Data, and Formulas

W. C. Martin and W. L. Wiese

National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899

Note for Macintosh Users: Due to differences in many Macintosh browsers, the spectroscopic notation of this article may appear with unintended spacing on a Mac. A pdf version of this article may be used instead. The table of Ground levels and ionization energies for the neutral atoms is also available.

1. Introduction 
2. Frequency, Wavenumber, Wavelength 
3. Atomic States, Shells, and Configurations 
4. Hydrogen and Hydrogen-like Ions 
5. Alkalis and Alkali-like Spectra 
6. Helium and Helium-like Ions; LS Coupling 
7. Hierarchy of Atomic Structure in LS Coupling 
8. Allowed Terms of Levels for Equivalent Electrons 
   • LS Coupling 
   • jj Coupling 
9. Notations for Different Coupling Schemes 
   • LS Coupling (Russell-Saunders Coupling) 
   • jj Coupling of Equivalent Electrons 
   • J₁ j or J₁ J₂ Coupling 
   • J₁ l or J₁ L₂ Coupling (J₁ K Coupling) 
   • LS₁ Coupling (LK Coupling) 
   • Coupling Schemes and Term Symbols 
10. Eigenvector Composition of Levels 
11. Ground Levels and Ionization Energies for the Neutral Atoms 
12. Zeeman Effect 
13. Term Series, Quantum Defects, and Spectral-line Series 
14. Sequences 
    • Isoelectronic Sequence 
    • Isoionic, Isonuclear, and Homologous Sequences 
15. Spectral Wavelength Ranges, Dispersion of Air 
16. Wavelength (Frequency) Standards 
17. Spectral Lines: Selection Rules, Intensities, Transition Probabilities, Values, and Line Strengths 
    • Emission Intensities (Transition Probabilities) 
    • Absorption f values 
    • Line Strengths 
    • Relationships between A, f, and S 
    • Relationships between Line and Multiplet Values 
    • Relative Strengths for Lines of Multiplets in LS Coupling 
18. Atomic Lifetimes 
19. Regularities and Scaling 
    • Transitions in Hydrogenic (One-Electron) Species 
    • Systematic Trends and Regularities in Atoms and Ions with Two or More Electrons 
20. Spectral Line Shapes, Widths, and Shifts 
    • Doppler Broadening 
    • Pressure Broadening 
21. Spectral Continuum Radiation 
    • Hydrogenic Species 
    • Many-Electron Systems 
22. Sources of Spectroscopic Data 
23. References 

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Online: February 1999