Atomic structure variational calculations in spectroscopy

Recent ab initio variational calculations of radiative transition probabilities, isotope shifts and hyperÐne structures are described in the spirit of the EGAS tradition for plenary talks. A few simple cases are selected to make the expose at a level accessible to non-specialists in the Ðeld and to illus-trate how computational atomic structure can be used in atomic spectros-copy for testing theoretical models or experimental results, predicting properties or interpreting them in terms of electron correlation. The eects inherent in the multiconÐguration HartreeÈFock method due to its varia-tional nature are emphasized through some simple analysis of the wave function spatial distribution in correlation with the model used. 1