The MCHF/MCDHF Database was designed and developed at Vanderbilt University by Drs. Charlotte Froese Fischer and Georgio Tachiev. Initially, in 2001, it was referred to as the MCHF/MCDHF Collection in that it consisted of sets of data for different atomic spectra that could be viewed online. In 2004, a search capability was added allowing the user to search for selected information and making it possible to compare results obtained from different computational methods.
Unlike the NIST Atomic Spectra
Database that reports one best value for each transition, the objective of
the MCHF/MCDHF Database is to support the determination of the accuracy of
computed transition data. Different data sets, obtained by different
methods may be present. Most often these include:
ab initio Breit-Pauli results without any corrections and energy adjusted data (or term energy corrections). The difference is an indication of accuracy.
Breit-Pauli results and multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock results. The latter is the more accurate relativistic theory and provides a check on Breit-Pauli results at high degree of ionization.
Department of Energy Support
Prof. Charlotte Froese Fischer's research on atomic transitions was supported from September 1978 to March 2005 by the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, U. S. Department of Energy.
