We shall first postulate the wave function for the simplest conceivable system. With the schrödinger equation you can solve for the wave functions of particles and that allows you to say everything you can about the particle where it is what its momentum is and so on.
Here x p is the proton s x position y p is the proton s y position and z p is its z position.
Schrodinger equation for dummies. A differential equation whose solution is a wave function which gives you the shape of the wave at any time subject to suitable boundary conditions. The schrödinger equation is a linear partial differential equation that describes the wave function or state function of a quantum mechanical system. In classical mechanics the evolution over time of a wave for example a sound wave or a water wave is described by a wave equation.
Here x e is the electron s x position y e is the electron s y position and z e is its z position. We saw that a pure sinusoidal wave can by represented by ψ 1. If you add time dependence to the equation you get this time dependent wave function.
Quantum physics for dummies revised edition. That s a solution to the schrödinger equation but it turns out to be unphysical. The equation developed 1926 by the austrian physicist erwin schrödinger has the same central importance to quantum mechanics as newton s laws of motion have for the large scale phenomena of classical mechanics.
In quantum physics the schrödinger technique which involves wave mechanics uses wave functions mostly in the position basis to reduce questions in quantum physics to a differential equation. Part of quantum physics workbook for dummies cheat sheet the schrödinger equation is one of the most basic formulas of quantum physics. To see this note that for either term in the equation you can t normalize the probability density as long as a and b aren t both equal to zero.
Schrödinger equation the fundamental equation of the science of submicroscopic phenomena known as quantum mechanics. Obtaining the schrodinger wave equation let us now construct our wave equation by reverse engineering i e we start with a wave function solution and work backwards to obtain the equation. Steven holzner is an award winning author of technical and science books like physics for dummies and differential equations for dummies.
The schrödinger equation also includes a term for the electron s kinetic energy. 1 2 it is a key result in quantum mechanics and its discovery was a significant landmark in the development of the subject the equation is named after erwin schrödinger who postulated the equation in 1925 and published it in 1926 forming. He graduated from mit and did his phd in physics at cornell university where he was on the teaching faculty for 10 years.
