Shannon entropy: a study of confined hydrogenic-like atoms

Abstract

The Shannon entropy in the atomic, molecular and chemical physics context is presented by using as test cases the hydrogenic-like atoms $H_c$, ${H{e}_c}^{+}$ and ${L{i}_c}^{2+}$ confined by an impenetrable spherical box. Novel expressions for entropic uncertainty relation and Shannon entropies $S_r$ and $S_p$ are proposed to ensure their physical dimensionless characteristic. The electronic ground state energy and the quantities $S_r$, $S_p$ and $S_t$ are calculated for the hydrogenic-like atoms to different confinement radii by using a variational method. The global behavior of these quantities and different conjectures are analyzed. The results are compared, when available, with those previously published.

Version accepted for publication in Chemical Physics Letters