Energy level diagrams with TeX

Question

Do you have any experience with creating energy level diagrams with TeX as shown below ?

What software/packages would you recommend me ?

I've heard about TikZ, but I don't have any experience with it and I would prefer something easy to handle or more WISIWYG.

I would like to illustrate Hund rules, Zeeman splitting and some related physical effects with option to customize pictures.

Hopefully this isn't too much off-topic question. Cheers.

Examples for Energy level diagrams Links:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atomic/imgato/mulelec2.gif http://mxp.physics.umn.edu/s05/projects/s05rb/images/Image173.gif http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/images/content/15z.jpg

Answer 1

Remarks

I implemented the first diagram in TikZ. All the coloring stuff has been outsourced to \tikzset so it is easy to change the style of the drawing.

Implementation

\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes.callouts}
\tikzset{
    level/.style = {
        ultra thick,
        blue,
    },
    connect/.style = {
        dashed,
        red
    },
    notice/.style = {
        draw,
        rectangle callout,
        callout relative pointer={#1}
    },
    label/.style = {
        text width=2cm
    }
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
    % Draw all levels
    \draw[level] (0,0) -- node[above] {4p4d} (2,0);

    \draw[connect] (2,0) -- (3,-2) (2,0) -- (3,3);
    \draw[level] (3,3) -- node[above] {$S=0$} node[below] {(Singlets)} (5,3);
    \draw[level] (3,-2) -- node[above] {$S=1$} node[below] {(Triplets)} (5,-2);

    \draw[connect] (5,3) -- (6,4.5) (5,3) -- (6,3.5) (5,3) -- (6,1.5);
    \draw[connect] (5,-2) -- (6,-0.5) (5,-2) -- (6,-1.5) (5,-2) -- (6,-3.5);
    \draw[level] (6,4.5) -- node[above] {${}^1P$} (8,4.5);
    \draw[level] (6,3.5) -- node[above] {${}^1D$} (8,3.5);
    \draw[level] (6,1.5) -- node[above] {${}^1F$} (8,1.5);
    \draw[level] (6,-0.5) -- node[above] {${}^3P$} (8,-0.5);
    \draw[level] (6,-1.5) -- node[above] {${}^3D$} (8,-1.5);
    \draw[level] (6,-3.5) -- node[above] {${}^3F$} (8,-3.5);

    \draw[connect] (8,4.5) -- (9,4.5) (8,3.5) -- (9,3.5) (8,1.5) -- (9,1.5);
    \draw[level] (9,4.5) -- (11,4.5) node[right] {${}^1P_1$};
    \draw[level] (9,3.5) -- (11,3.5) node[right] {${}^1D_2$};
    \draw[level] (9,1.5) -- (11,1.5) node[right] {${}^1F_3$};

    \draw[connect] (8,-0.5) -- (9,-0.5) (8,-0.5) -- (9,-0.8) (8,-0.5) -- (9,-1)
        (8,-1.5) -- (9,-1.6) (8,-1.5) -- (9,-1.8) (8,-1.5) -- (9,-1.3)
        (8,-3.5) -- (9,-3.8) (8,-3.5) -- (9,-3.6) (8,-3.5) -- (9,-3.1);
    \foreach \i/\j in {2/-0.5, 1/-0.8, 0/-1} {
        \draw[level] (9,\j) -- (11,\j) node[right] {\scriptsize $\i$};
    }
    \node[level,right] at (11.5,-0.8) {${}^3P_{0,1,2}$};
    \foreach \i/\j in {3/-1.3, 2/-1.6, 1/-1.8} {
        \draw[level] (9,\j) -- (11,\j) node[right] {\scriptsize $\i$};
    }
    \node[level,right] at (11.5,-1.6) {${}^3D_{1,2,3}$};
    \foreach \i/\j in {4/-3.1, 3/-3.6, 2/-3.8} {
        \draw[level] (9,\j) -- (11,\j) node[right] {\scriptsize $\i$};
    }
    \node[level,right] at (11.5,-3.6) {${}^3F_{2,3,4}$};

    % Draw labels
    \node[label] at (4,5.5) {Spin-spin interaction};
    \node[label] at (7,5.5) {Orbit-orbit interaction};
    \node[label] at (10,5.5) {Spin-orbit interaction};

    % Draw annotations
    \node[notice={(0.5,0.5)},text width=1.5cm] at (2,-3) {Hunds rule \# 1};
    \node[notice={(0,1)}] at (4,-4) {Why is triplet lower};
    \node[notice={(0.7,0.7)},text width=3cm] at (6,-5) {Why is higher angular momentum state lower energy?};
    \node[notice={(-0.9,0.9)},text width=1.5cm] at (9,-5) {Hunds rule \# 2};
    \node[notice={(-0.2,1.6)},text width=3cm] at (11,-6.5) {Why is low total angular momentum state lower in energy?};
    \node[notice={(-0.5,0.5)},text width=1.5cm] at (12,-5) {Hunds rule \# 3};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Output