Heitler-London covalence theory [`hīt·lǝr `lǝn·dǝn kō`vā·lǝns ´thē·ǝ·rē] PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A calculation of the binding energy and the distance between the atoms of a diatomic hydrogen molecule, which assumes that the two electrons are in atomic orbitals about each of the nuclei, and then combines these orbitals into a symmetric or antisymmetric function. |