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The ‘quantum’ principle that says why atoms are as they are

From strange beginnings, the 100-year-old Pauli exclusion principle has become a gift that keeps on giving for scientists who aim to understand the workings of matter.
By
  1. Olival Freire Jr

    1. Olival Freire Jr is a professor of physics and the history of physics at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil.

  2. Thiago Hartz

    1. Thiago Hartz is an assistant professor in the Mathematics Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A rainbow-colored periodic table of the elements designed in the style of an irregular spiral, from the 1940s.

The Pauli exclusion principle determines the periodic relationships between the chemical elements — however they are depicted. Credit: Courtesy of Science History Institute

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What makes matter stable? Why are atoms as they are? Why do different materials vary in their properties, such as electrical conductivity, density, melting temperature or light-absorption spectra?

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Nature 639, 296-299 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00731-x

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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