Help on Search Form

The search criteria defined by the different input fields are combined by the logical AND operator. It means, for example, if you specify the spectrum and the Specific Subject of research, you will receive the list of papers referring to this spectrum AND the selected research subject.

The input fields that are represented by scrollable menus allow multiple selections. If you select multiple entries from a scrollable menu, these individual entries are combined by the logical OR operator. It means, for example, if you select the capitalized JOURNALS and BOOKS entries from the Publication Source list (by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking with the mouse on these entries), you will receive the list of papers published either in any journal OR in any book.

Any blank field or a menu with no highlighted selection is ignored in the search. (Menu items can be de-selected by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking with the mouse on these entries.)

The output list of references can be sorted by the publication year (in descending order) or by the first author's last name. The sorting mode can be selected using the radio buttons at the bottom of the form, above the Search for References button.

The text below contains directions on the use of individual input fields in the search form.

Spectra:

The spectra are specified using the commonly used spectroscopic designations. For example, the second spectrum of iron (which is singly ionized iron) is designated as Fe II. Alternatively, the same spectrum can be designated as Fe+. The third spectrum of iron can be specified either as Fe III, or Fe2+, or Fe Cr-like. Negative ions can be specified by attaching minus symbols after the element symbol (one minus for a singly-charged ion, two minuses for a doubly-charged ion), e.g. H-. Multiple spectra of different elements can be specified in one input line. For example, the string Al I-III,V; Mg II will result in a list of papers where Al I, Al II, Al III, Al V, or Mg II are investigated. Note that the parts of the input string relevant to different elements must be separated by semicolon. A range of ionization stages of a certain element can be specified by a pair of roman numbers separated by a dash. Alternatively, a range of isoelectronic sequences can be specified as in this example: C H-like-Li-like (this is equivalent to C IV-VI). A range of elements having consecutive atomic numbers in the Periodic Table can be given by the first and last element symbols separated by dash. For example the string La-Lu I-IV means "any of the first four spectra of the lanthanides". Element symbols should be specified as given in the NIST's Periodic Table of the Elements. Deuterium and tritium can be specified by symbols D and T, respectively. Specific isotopes of the elements can be specified by an atomic number of the isotope before the element symbol, e.g. 87Rb I. Note: This input field is case-insensitive.

Exotic Atoms:

Exotic atoms are those atoms in which one or more of the elementary particles (electrons or protons) are replaced by other particles, such as a muon, positron, or antiproton. Most of such atoms covered in the present bibliography are similar to hydrogen. Thus, this option should normally be used when searching for literature on the H I spectrum. The quoted literature on exotic atoms is not intended to be complete.

Word/Pattern in Title:

Specify any fragment of the article title to search for. Those who are familiar with UNIX-style regular expressions can use them to a limited extent. For example, to search for titles that contain either ATOMIC or IONIC, one can use a string ATOMIC|IONIC. To search for titles in which the letter A is immediately followed by any number, one can use the string A[0-9]. Note: This input field is case-insensitive.

Author(s):

Usually, it is sufficient to specify the author(s) last name(s) delimited by comma. If more than one author name is given, they are combined by the logical AND operator. That is, the returned list will contain the papers that have ALL specified authors in any order. If there are more than one author with the same last name, you can narrow your search by specifying the author's initials before the last name. If the author's name has a postfix (e.g. Jr. or Sr.), this postfix may be specified after the last name, e.g. Haynes Jr. The author names having accented letters or other special characters should be given using similar Latin letters without accents, e.g. Träbert or Weiß should be given as Trabert or Weiss, respectively. A fragment of the author's last name can be used in the search. For example, a search for "Lamb" will select all papers of authors whouse last name comtains "lamb", e.g. "Lamb Jr.", "Flambaum", "Lambert", etc. To restrict the search to author names that start with the given fragment, include the hat symbol (^) before the name fragment, e.g. "^Lamb". To restrict the search to author names that end with the given fragment, include the dollar symbol ($) after the name fragment, e.g. "Ho$". Note: This input field is case-insensitive.

Publication Year From/To:

If you are searching for papers published within just one year, it is sufficient to specify this year only once in the From field. All four digits of the year must be given.

Publication Source:

This scrollable menu consists of several sections given in the following order: Journals, Collections, Books, Reports, Theses. In each section, the publication names are in alphabetical order. For convenience, the section names are given in capital letters at the top of the menu. They are also repeated at the top of each section. If the capitalized name of the section is selected, the search will include all publications in this section. For journals, the list has abbreviated journal names. For books and collections, the book title is given. For reports and theses, the list contains the names of the institutions that published these reports and theses. The list of publication sources allows for multiple selections. If multiple entries are selected, they are combined by the logical OR operator. For example, if Phys. Lett. A and Phys. Rev. A are selected, the search will include papers published in Phys. Lett. A OR Phys. Rev. A.

Method Type:

If the Experiment box is checked (and the Theory and Both boxes are empty), the search will include only experimental papers. If the Theory box is checked (and the Experiment and Both boxes are empty), the search will include only theoretical papers. If the Both box is checked, then the search will include only papers that discuss both experiment and theory, regardless of the state of the Experiment and Theory boxes.

Specific Subject:

Select one or more research subjects from the list. If more than one entry is selected in the list of subjects, they are combined by the logical OR operator. That is, for example, if you select Energy Levels and Wavelengths, the search will include papers having numerical data on either Energy Levels OR Wavelengths. Description of various Specific Subjects is given in the list below.

• Energy Levels: Experimental or precisely determined semiempirical (interpolated or smoothed) energy differences, except Hyperfine Structure and Isotopic Shifts (see below). Includes references that suggest the rejection of previously reported levels.
• Ionization Potentials: Experimental or theoretical values of the first ionization limits relative to the ground states.
• Series Formulae: Evaluated series constants. Includes only the formulae describing series of energy levels of one atom or ion converging to the series limit of the next ion, including those appearing in polarization-theory.
• Wavelengths: New measurements of wavelengths or wave numbers, or wavelengths/wave numbers newly assigned to a particular spectrum. References that list measurements of other entities corresponding to energy differences between levels may also be included. Isoelectronically smoothed or interpolated values may also be included.
• Classified Lines: Includes references indicating the assignment of newly or previously observed lines to transitions between energy levels that are specified by theoretical designations and/or by their positions in a known level scheme.
• New Designations: New or changed designations or J values for known energy levels.
• Hyperfine Structure: Observations and theory of hyperfine structures.
• Isotopic Shift: Includes isotopic or isomeric (nuclear) shifts, either experimental, theoretical, or interpolated.
• Zeeman Effect: Observations and theory of energy levels of atoms and ions in external magnetic fields. Interpolated data can be included. Includes data on effective parameters and Lande g factors.
• Stark Effect: Observations and theory of energy levels of atoms and ions in external magnetic fields. Interpolated data can be included. Includes data on polarizability constants.
• Quantum Field Effects: Lamb shifts; experimental and theoretical results on the effects of quantum electrodynamics.
• Transition Arrays: Lines or groups of lines that are assigned to transition array(s) (but not to particular levels or terms). Experimental and theoretical papers are included.
• Theoretical Energies: References that include calculated data on energy levels or energy level differences (including term energies and binding energies). In a few cases, the accuracy of such calculated data may exceed those available from observations. These theoretical results may also contain data not available from experiment at the time when the paper was included in the database.
• Parametric Theory: Evaluations of the usual energy parameters of Slater/Condon theory, or extensions thereof, based on fitting the theory to experimental levels, g-factors, and/or other observed quantities.
• Ab Initio Theory: These references are mostly to Hartree-Fock or Dirac-Fock type calculations of energy parameters or levels.

General Interest Category:

You can make multiple selections of General Interest Categories by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking with the mouse on the individual topics in the list. If you select multiple topics, they are combined by logical OR. For example, if both Compilations and Reviews & Bibliographies are selected, the search will include papers that are relevant to either the first OR the second of these categories. The search can be narrowed by specifying other search terms such as Author(s), Publication Year, Experiment/Theory, etc. The topics listed in the General Interest Categories menu are explained below:

• Isoelectronic Sequences: Experimental or theoretical papers that contain newly obtained numerical data on multiple ions in one or more isoelectronic sequence.
• Compilations: Papers that contain critically evaluation and compilation of previously published experimental or theoretical data on one or more spectrum.
• Reviews and bibliographies: Papers that contain reviews of theoretical and/or experimental work or contain extensive lists of references to the published literature on some subject of atomic spectroscopy.
• Additional Theoretical Papers: Papers that introduce or extend theoretical methods useful in analyses of atomic spectra.
• Other: Papers that are currently not classified in our scheme of search keywords.