Hyperfine structure refers to small splittings in the energy levels of atoms that arise from interactions between the magnetic moments of the nucleus and the electrons surrounding it. This phenomenon occurs due to the coupling of the nuclear spin with the magnetic field generated by the electron cloud. In more detail, the nucleus of an atom has a property called nuclear spin, which can take on certain discrete values depending on the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
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Small splits present in all levels due to interaction between the electron spin and the nuclear spin if it is present, i.e. the nucleus has an even number of nucleons.
As the name suggests, this energy split is very small, since the influence of the nucleus spin on the electron spin is relatively small compared to other fine structure.
The most important examples:
- hydrogen line useful in astronomy, and also the simplest possible case between 1s
- caesium standard, which is used to define the second in the International System of Units since 1967.