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wave function

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wave function

Variable quantity that mathematically describes the wave characteristics of a particle. It is related to the likelihood of the particle being at a given point in space at a given time, and may be thought of as an expression for the amplitude of the particle wave, though this is strictly not physically meaningful. The square of the wave function is the significant quantity, as it gives the probability for finding the particle at a given point in space and time. See also wave-particle duality.


wave function [′wāv ‚fəŋk·shən]
(quantum mechanics)


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It's sort of an axiom of quantum mechanics that the wave function can tell you absolutely all you want to know about a [quantum] system," he adds.
In order to calculate the occupation numbers, let us start with a general expression for the probability of a rapid transition from a state k with the wave function [[PSI].
 
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