A complex scalar field that describes a quantum mechanical system. The square of the modulus of the wave function gives the probability of the system to be found in a particular state. DO NOT USE THIS TAG for classical waves.
The wavefunction is a complex scalar field that describes a quantum mechanical system. The square of the modulus of the wave function gives the probability of the system to be found in a particular state.
In the Schrödinger Wave formulation of Quantum Mechanics, the wavefunction can be determined by the schrodinger-equation, which, in its most general form, can be stated as:
$$\hat H|\Psi\rangle=i\hbar\frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm d t}|\Psi\rangle$$
In the case of a "Euclidean Hamiltonian" given by the operator $\hat H=\dfrac{\hat P^2}{2m}+\hat U$, this becomes:
$$\left(\frac{\hat P^2}{2m}+\hat U\right) |\Psi\rangle=i\hbar\frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm d t}|\Psi\rangle.$$
Since the momentum operator $\hat P$, in the position bases, is $-i\hbar\nabla$, the Schrödinger equation becomes $$\left(-\frac{\hbar^2}{2m}\nabla^2+U\right)\Psi= i\hbar\frac{\partial\Psi}{\partial t} $$ with $\Psi=\langle x|\Psi\rangle$.
This is known as the time-independent Schrödinger equation. Note that as the Hamiltonian used was Euclidean, this equation is, in fact, non-relativistic. The relativistic version of this equation in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics (and also in quantum-field-theory, but there it describes spin-1/2 fields) is the dirac-equation.
The wavefunction also appears in Feynman's path-integral formulation of Quantum Mechanics. In the Path Integral formulation, a functional, called the phase, is associated with each path:
$$\phi = A e^\frac{iS}{\hbar}.$$
The Kernel, or the Matrix Element, is the path integral of this phase.
$$K(x ) =\int\phi\mbox{ } \mathcal{D}x.$$
The wavefunction, finally, is given by:
$$\Psi(x)=\int_{-\infty}^\infty \left(K(x,x_0)\Psi(x_0) \right) \mbox{d} x_0.$$
It is often surprising to many that the absolute value of the phase squared, $|\phi|^2$, is constant for all paths at $A^2$. However, this actually makes sense, as the position of the particle is initially completely well-defined, so Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle tells us that we would have no idea about the momentum and thus no idea about its future position. However, the next moment, you know absolutely nothing about its momentum, and so on. This process coarse-grains a particular path, the classical path, which means it is much more probable than the other paths.
The mathematical description of this can be obtained by standard procedures (c.f. Feynman, Hibbs, Styer "Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals", pg 77 - 79), and the final result is the Schrödinger's Equation.
DO NOT USE THIS TAG for classical waves. Use the waves tag instead.
