Harmonic oscillator model for the helium atom

Abstract

A harmonic oscillator model in four dimensions is presented for the helium atom to estimate the distance to the inner and outer electron from the nucleus, the angle between electrons and the energy levels. The method is algebraic and is not based on the choice of correct trial wave function. Three harmonic oscillators and thus three quantum numbers are sufficient to describe the two-electron system. We derive a simple formula for the energy in the general case and in the special case of the Wannier Ridge. For a set of quantum numbers the distance to the electrons and the angle between the electrons are uniquely determined as the intersection between three surfaces. We show that the excited states converge either towards ionization thresholds or towards extreme parallel or antiparallel states and provide an estimate of the ground state energy.