Affiliation: ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, Barcelona, Spain

Research Field: Electronic and magnetic ground state of spin-orbit active transition metal compounds using x-ray spectroscopy (XAS, XMCD, RIXS)

Introduction to multiplet theory

The first part of the lecture will deal with the theory of full atomic multiplet interaction and its effect on the lineshape of the XAS spectrum. The term symbols will be introduced in order to properly describe the ground state and the final states that can be reached in the absorption process. In the second part the crystal field and ligand field theories will be introduced in order to properly describe the L2,3 spectra of transition metal compounds. Examples of orbital degeneracy breaking induced by the crystal field and its effect on the ground state symmetry will be shown.