It is shown that the Schrödinger equation for the hydrogenlike atom separates in both spheroconal and prolate spheroidal coordinates and that these separations provide a sound theoretical basis for the real and hybrid atomic orbitals. Thus the real and hybrid atomic orbitals have as sound a pedigree as the more familiar complex orbitals based on the separation of the Schrödinger equation in spherical polar coordinates.
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© 1981 American Association of Physics Teachers.
1981
American Association of Physics Teachers
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