Stability of non-relativistic matter

Undergraduate thesis in physics, Universidad de los Andes (2025)

A simple but fundamental question in the context of Quantum Mechanics is the following: if an atom is composed of particles with positive and negative charges, why does it not collapse? The classical model predicts that the charges will attract each other indefinitely and that the total energy of the system will tend to −∞ in a very short time. However, this is not the behavior observed in reality. In the case of the hydrogen atom, which can be solved explicitly, the possible energies of the atom are bounded from below. In the case of systems with many particles, arguing from the hydrogen atom case is not very satisfactory, since the interactions are more complex, as phenomena such as electron screening or chemical bonding arise when considering several nuclei.


Grupo de Física Estadística

Departamento de Física

Edificio Ip

Carrera 1E # 18A-10

Bogotá, Colombia

Universidad de los Andes | Vigilada Mineducación
Reconocimiento como Universidad: Decreto 1297 del 30 de mayo de 1964.
Reconocimiento personería jurídica: Resolución 28 del 23 de febrero de 1949 Minjusticia.

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