A variational solution of the Thomas-Fermi differential equation is obtained. The proposed solution is used to calculate the total ionization energy of atoms, and also the repulsive interaction energy between rare-gas atoms. It is shown that the results obtained by the proposed function are better than those obtained from Csavinszky's function for medium and high atomic number elements.

• Received 4 April 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.23.991