Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-major-option-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/4/b/i/solution
Past exam of the condensed matter physics major option course of the University of Oxford 2019 4 b i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For the regular octahedron, repulsion from the six oxygen ligands raises the two orbitals, and , above the three orbitals, . The latter point between the metal-ligand axes and experience less direct repulsion. The crystal field splitting is therefore a lower triplet and an upper doublet.
For the V ion, Hund's rules put the two electrons into different orbitals with parallel spins, giving . There are three choices for the unoccupied orbital, so the orbital ground state is triply degenerate. Its spin degeneracy is separate. This orbital degeneracy makes a symmetry-lowering Jahn-Teller effect possible.
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