Abstract
The helium atom has served since the beginnings of quantum theory as an almost perfect target for testing theoretical methods as well as experimental techniques. It is not so simple as hydrogen (which is the first atom selected for every new application), but it is not like the really complicated many-electron systems which must be treated either statistically or with numerical methods whose physical underpinnings are not transparent. One of the early successes of wave mechanics was its ability to describe the nonrelativistic two-electron atom with impressive accuracy long before electronic computers were available. Now this venerable system is once again of intense interest, partly due to some new experimental methods and partly to a renewed theoretical interest in Casimir forces. Casimir forces are very long-range retarded interactions (discussed in several chapters in this volume) important in a variety of situations and most conveniently accessible through the study of highly excited states of two-electron atoms.
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