The ionization problem (Q1995245)

Summary: ``How many electrons can a nucleus bind?'' is as old as quantum mechanics, but its rigorous answer based on the many-body Schrödinger equation remains a difficult challenge to mathematicians. Nevertheless, there has been remarkable progress in this problem in the past four decades. We will review the current understanding of the Schrödinger equation and then turn to simplified models where the problem has been solved satisfactorily. We will also discuss the connection to the liquid drop model, which is somewhat more classical, but no less interesting