VISUALIZATION OF ELECTRON CORRELATION IN A SERIES OF HELIUM S STATES

Electron correlation has been studied for a series of helium S states represented by a variety of wavefunctions, the best of which are accurate Hylleraas-Kinoshita functions. The states studied are the ground state, the lowest excited 1S and 3S states, and the (2s)2 and (2p)2 doubly-excited 1S states. Primary data is obtained from graphs of the conditional probability density as a function of the radial distance r2 and the interelectronic angle θ12, given that r1 is fixed at various distances. Such graphs make clear the extent to which characteristics such as angular and radial correlations, and Fermi and Coulomb holes, are consequences of the relative motion of electrons in two-electron atoms. © 1979.