The study of atomic and molecular physics is a key component of undergraduate courses in physics, because of its fundamental importance to the understanding of many aspects of modern physics. The aim of this text is to provide a unified account of the subject.

The study of atomic and molecular physics is a key component of undergraduate courses in physics, because of its fundamental importance to the understanding of many aspects of modern physics. The aim of this new edition is to provide a unified account of the subject within an undergraduate framework, taking the opportunity to make improvements based on the teaching experience of users of the first edition, and cover important new developments in the subject.Key features of this new edition:

• Revised material on molecular structure and spectra

• Extended material on electronic and atomic collisions

• A new chapter describing applications based on the use of the maser and the laser, including laser spectroscopy, laser cooling and trapping of atoms, Bose-Einstein condensation, atom lasers and atomic systems in intense laser fields

• A new chapter describing other applications, including magnetic resonance, atom optics, atoms in cavities, ions in traps, atomic clocks and astrophysics

• Revised appendices include new material on molecules and updated tables of physical constants

• Solutions of selected problems

B.H. Bransden is Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Durham. C.J. Joachain is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Brussels. They are co-authors of Quantum Mechanics, also published by Prentice Hall.

New edition of a well-established second and third year textbook for Physics degree students, covering the physical structure and behaviour of atoms and molecules. The aim of this new edition is to provide a unified account of the subject within an undergraduate framework, taking the opportunity to make improvements based on the teaching experience of users of the first edition, and cover important new developments in the subject.