Hartree-Fock deformed jellium model for metallic clusters

We have developed the Hartree-Fock jellium model for deformed metal clusters, which treats the quantized electron motion in the field of the spheroidal ionic jellium background in the Hartree-Fock approximation. Using this model, we have calculated single electron energy levels as a function of the cluster deformation parameter for a series of sodium clusters with the number of atoms N in a cluster ranging from 4 to 40. We have established that the cluster deformations corresponding to the minimum total energy of the oblate and prolate clusters are in a reasonable agreement with the experimental data and predictions of other theoretical models. (author)