system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What are quantum numbers?
gpt
Quantum numbers are the quantities needed to specify the individual basis states in a given basis.

For example to specify the state of an electron in a hydrogen atom, you need at least four quantum numbers.

Ignoring fine structure, you typically work in the basis of well-defined **L**^(2) and L*_z_*. So your quantum numbers are n (basically the energy), ℓ (the orbital angular momentum), m*_ℓ_* (the z-component of the orbital angular momentum), and m*_s_* (the z-component of the spin).

There are additional quantum numbers you could specify, like the spin s (always 1/2 for an electron), the parity, the lepton number, etc. But the four above are the minimum necessary to specify the exact quantum state of the atomic electron.