What do the '{` mean in atomic configurations e.g:
1s(2)2s(1)2p(2){3P}3p(1)
1s(2)2s(2)2p(3){4S}3p(1)
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$\begingroup$ By "we" you likely mean the authors of the text where you found this. What do they say about their notation? $\endgroup$– my2ctsCommented Feb 23, 2019 at 9:24
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$\begingroup$ All I know is that these are some excited states of Oxygen ions. I am assuming this is some form of standard representation but cannot find any explanation which is why I am asking :) $\endgroup$– wander95Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 23:07
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1 Answer
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The {3P} and {4S} are referring to triplet states. Triplet states occur when two unpaired electrons with 1/2 spin merge to give a S=1. In your case of 1s(2)2s(1)2p(2){3P}3p(1) this means the one 2s(1) electron and one 2p(2) electron share orbitals and form a triplet state. The notation should look like superscript3 P and superscript4 S but due to format complexity can be seen as {3P} and {4S}.
