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Atoms and Subatomic Particles / Waves
Atoms and Subatomic Particles / Waves
matter and energy on the scale of atoms and subatomic particles / waves.
• It also forms the basis for the contemporary understanding of how very
large objects such as stars and galaxies, and cosmological events such as the
Big Bang, can be analyzed and explained.
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• The wave function of a single particle, like its probability cloud, assigns an
amplitude to all possible positions of the particle. Wave function is an
assignment of a complex number to every point in space, at each time.
• The particle does not occupy a definite position at each time; instead, it is
assigned a probability cloud that extends over all space.
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In quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger equation is a partial differential equation
that describes how the quantum state of a quantum system changes with time. It
was formulated in late 1925, and published in 1926, by the Austrian physicist Erwin
Schrödinger.
Ĥ is the Hamiltonian operator (which characterizes the total energy of any given wave
function and takes different forms depending on the situation).
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There is a general equation that describes this wave-like behavior and, with the
appropriate potential energy and boundary conditions, will predict the results of
the experiments. The equation is called the Schrodinger equation and it forms
the foundations of quantum theory.
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In three Dimension:
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The first boundary condition is that ψ must be continuous.
The second is that dψ /dx must be continuous.
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Inserting 1st boundary condition:
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Inserting 2nd boundary condition:
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Normalization
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