In message <20111029201927.b7a1130c.att...@kinali.ch>, Attila Kinali writes:
>Is it because they can be aproximated as single electron >systems due to the one electron in the valence orbit? Yes. Basically that electron is in a "figure of eight" orbital which means that it passes straight through, or possibly just very close by, the proton, allowing their spin moments to interact. >Related to this is the question why only H, Rb and Cs are used. >Although, from my point of view there isnt anything that speaks >against using Li, K or Na, these are not used at all. At least i >couldnt find any papers or other documents describing frequency >standards build on these elements. I belive K has been tried. I belive the preference for H, Rb & Cs is that getting them as single atoms doesn't require high temperatures. -- Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20 p...@freebsd.org | TCP/IP since RFC 956 FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
