Semiempirical fine-tuning for Hartree-Fock ionization potentials of atomic ions with non-integral atomic number

Amovilli and March (2006) [8] used diffusion quantum Monte Carlo techniques to calculate the non-relativistic ionization potential I(Z) in He-like atomic ions for the range of (fractional) nuclear charges Z lying between the known critical value Zc=0.911 at which I(Z) tends to zero and Z=2. They showed that it is possible to fit I(Z) to a simple quadratic expression. Following that idea, we present here a semiempirical fine-tuning of Hartree-Fock ionization potentials for the isoelectronic series of He, Be, Ne, Mg and Ar-like atomic ions that leads to excellent estimations of Zc for these series. The empirical information involved is experimental ionization and electron affinity data. It is clearly demonstrated that Hartree-Fock theory provides an excellent starting point for determining I(Z) for these series.