On the 3d6 4s2 (5D) - 3d7 4s1 (5F) separation in Fe

Full CI calculations are used to calibrate SDSI treatment of the 5D-5F separation in the Fe atom. The (5s4p2d), (5s4p3d), and (5s4p2d1f) basis sets were used for the FCI calculations. The importance of the 3s and 3p correlation and the relativistic effects are studied at SDCI level. The role of polarization functions in computing atomic separations in transition metal atoms is discussed. It is observed that the FCI separation is slightly smaller than the SDCI results, and the SDCI data yield an adequate description of the 5D-5F separation with only 8 electrons correlated. It is concluded that the differential effect of higher excitations becomes more important when the 3s and 3p electrons are correlated.