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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Slater determinant?

Definition 2.3 University Chemistry — Year 3 · Chapter 2 — Many-Electron Atoms and Term Symbols

For NN electrons in NN different spin-orbitals χ1,…,χN\chi_1, \dots, \chi_N, the Slater determinant is

Ψ=1N!∣χ1(1)χ2(1)⋯χN(1)χ1(2)χ2(2)⋯χN(2)⋮⋮χ1(N)χ2(N)⋯χN(N)∣,\Psi = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N!}}\begin{vmatrix} \chi_1(1) & \chi_2(1) & \cdots & \chi_N(1)\\ \chi_1(2) & \chi_2(2) & \cdots & \chi_N(2)\\ \vdots & & & \vdots\\ \chi_1(N) & \chi_2(N) & \cdots & \chi_N(N) \end{vmatrix},

where row ii holds electron ii in each spin-orbital. It is written for short ∣χ1χ2…χN∣|\chi_1\chi_2\dots\chi_N|.

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