doctoral_advisor death_place death_date birth_place nationality fields workplaces birth_date known_for article_title academic_advisors name alma_mater
hermann theodor simon frankfurt , hesse , west germany 1 august 1972 bonn , prussia , german empire german physics goethe university frankfurt 18 may 1881 madelung equations madelung rule erwin madelung
 eduard riecke erwin madelung university of göttingen
erwin madelung

erwin madelung -lrb- 18 may 1881 -- 1 august 1972 -rrb- was a german physicist .
he was born in 1881 in bonn .
his father was the surgeon otto wilhelm madelung .
he earned a doctorate in 1905 from the university of göttingen , specializing in crystal structure , and eventually became a professor .
it was during this time he developed the madelung constant , which characterizes the net electrostatic effects of all ions in a crystal lattice , and is used to determine the energy of one ion .
in 1921 he succeeded max born as the chair of theoretical physics at the goethe university frankfurt , which he held until his retirement in 1949 .
he specialized in atomic physics and quantum mechanics , and it was during this time he developed the madelung equations , an alternative form of the schrödinger equation .
he is also known for the madelung rule , which states that atomic orbitals are filled in order of increasing `` n '' + `` l '' quantum numbers .
