Examining the Electron Phase Transformation Theory in the Context of Atomic Structure

The shortcomings of the Rutherford atomic model can be eliminated by the suggested phase transformation of the electrons from point to non-revolving surface charge in the vicinity of the nucleus. The energy balance investigations of this atom model indicated that the stability of the surface charge valence electron shell is ensured by the one-dimensional Casimir effect. If this theoretical prediction is correct then the first ionization energies of the elements should correlate linearly to the inverse of atomic diameter. Classical physics approach, the electrostatic attraction of the nucleus and the repulsion of the surface charge electron shell result in an identical relationship. The problem with the classical physics approach is that it does not offer an adequate explanation for the photoelectric effect and the free electrons inside the metal. Therefore, classical electrostatics cannot be considered the right physical process responsible for the stability of the valence electron/s in neutral atoms.

The derived theoretical relationship, between atomic diameter and ionization energy, was tested up to 86 elements of the periodic table. The correlation coefficient is 0.9187. The correlation is stronger for individual periods. The empirical relationship between the ionization energy and atomic radii is well known, resulting in the same correlation coefficients. However, the correlation to the atomic radii does not reproduce the theoretically derived constant multiplier, contrarily to the atomic diameter relationship. Thus, the first ionization energy is the function of the atomic diameter. The uncertainties in the reported atomic sizes are relatively high. Therefore, the correlation between theory and experiments should be considered as excellent. The theoretically derived relationship between the first ionization energy and atomic diameter is the consequence of the proposed phase transformation of the electron. Thus the detected strong correlation between theory and experiments adds further support to the proposed atomic structure.