Correspondences between the Classical Electrostatic Thomson Problem and Atomic Electronic Structure

Abstract

Correspondences between the Thomson Problem and atomic electron shell-filling patterns are observed as systematic non-uniformities in the distribution of potential energy necessary to change configurations of $N\le 100$ electrons into discrete geometries of neighboring $N-1$ systems. These non-uniformities yield electron energy pairs, intra-subshell pattern similarities with empirical ionization energy, and a salient pattern that coincides with size-normalized empirical ionization energies. Spatial symmetry limitations on discrete charges constrained to a spherical volume are conjectured as underlying physical mechanisms responsible for shell-filling patterns in atomic electronic structure and the Periodic Law.