Erwin Madelung

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erwin Madelung (May 18, 1881 – August 1, 1972) was a German physicist. He was born in 1881 in Frankfurt/Main. His father was the surgeon Otto Wilhelm Madelung.

He earned a doctorate in 1905 from the University of Goettingen, specializing in crystal structure, and eventually became a professor. It was during this time he developed the Madelung constant, which characterizes the net electrostatic effects of all ions in a crystal lattice, and is used to determine the energy of one ion.

In 1921 he was appointed head of theoretical physics at the University of Frankfurt/Main, which he held until 1949. His worked specialized in atomic physics and quantum mechanics, and it was during this time he developed the Madelung equations, an alternative form of the Schrödinger equation.

He is also known for the Madelung rule, which states that atomic orbitals are filled in order of increasing n + l quantum numbers.