The Schrödinger Wave Equation

The fundamental equation of <!g>quantum mechanics is the Schrödinger Wave Equation - so-called because it takes a mathematical form characteristic of classical wave equations. However, the equation does not refer to physical waves but rather to probabilities, e.g. the probability of finding an <!g>electron in one location rather than another. The final outcome may be determinate (an electron in a particular location), but the probability distribution of the possible outcomes has the mathematical form of a wave. This peculiar feature of a very successful equation has led to the intractable problem of how we should interpret the theory that emerged from <!g>the quantum revolution. See Schrödinger’s Cat and the meaning of quantum theory.

Further discussion of the Schrödinger Wave Equation can be found in <!g>John Polkinghorne’s largely non-technical book <!g>The Quantum World.

Email link | Feedback | Contributed by: <!g>Dr. Christopher Southgate
Source: God, Humanity and the Cosmos  (<!g>T&T Clark, 1999)