Abstract
The excited atom model using Delta SCF Hartree-Fock calculations is tested on Mg metal. It is found that the valence configurations of the ground, one- and two-core-hole states may be unambiguously determined simply from the values of the atom-metal XPS and Auger shifts. The above state energies suggest 3s13p1, 3s23p1 and 3s23p2 configurations, respectively, in agreement with previously reported band-structure calculations and XES and Auger studies.