Helmut Hönl (10 February 1903– 29 March 1981) was a German theoretical physicist who made contributions to quantum mechanics and the understanding of atomic and molecular structure.

Even before acquiring his doctorate at Munich, Hönl had done seminal work which contributed to the advancement of quantum mechanics and the understanding of atomic and molecular structure and spectra.

[5] As is the case in any fast developing field with a high level of interest, others independently make similar findings.

In the first paper of the trilogy[8][9][10] which launched the matrix mechanics formulation of quantum theory in 1925, Werner Heisenberg, a former student of Sommerfeld, working with Max Born at the University of Göttingen, used the work of Hönl, Kronig, and Goudsmit, referring to it as the “Goudsmit–Kronig–Hönl formula.”[11] At this time, there were three centers of development for quantum mechanics and the interpretation of atomic and molecular structure, based on atomic and molecular spectroscopy, especially the Sommerfeld-Bohr model: the Theoretical Physics Institute at the University of Munich, under Sommerfeld, the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Göttingen, under Born, and the Institute of Theoretical Physics, under Niels Bohr.

[13][14] At Stuttgart, Ewald and Hönl worked on the quantum theory atomic and molecular structure and solid-state physics.