Schrödinger's wave mechanics

Schrödinger's wave mechanics

[′shrād·iŋ·ərz ′wāv mi‚kan·iks]

(quantum mechanics)

The version of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics in which a system is characterized by a wave function which is a function of the coordinates of all the particles of the system and time, and obeys a differential equation, the Schrödinger equation; physical quantities are represented by differential operators which may act on the wave function, and expectation values of measurements are equal to integrals involving the corresponding operator and the wave function. Also known as wave mechanics.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.