When did Erwin Schrödinger publish the paper containing his wave equation?
Erwin Schrödinger published the paper in 1926. He had secluded himself in a mountain cabin with a mistress in December of 1925 to work on the equation.
Questions about Schrödinger equation
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What hypothesis about matter influenced the development of the Schrödinger equation?
The Schrödinger equation is based on Louis de Broglie's hypothesis that all matter has an associated matter wave. Peter Debye also made an offhand comment suggesting particles behave as waves which prompted Schrödinger to seek a three-dimensional wave equation for the electron.
How does the Schrödinger equation explain quantized energy levels in a potential box?
A particle confined inside a one-dimensional potential energy box demonstrates how restraints lead to quantized energy levels. The wave function must equal zero at the walls because it cannot penetrate the infinite barrier, forcing the wavelength to fit an integer multiple of half-wavelengths across the width.
Why was the original Schrödinger equation limited to nonrelativistic domains?
The original Schrödinger equation applies essentially in the nonrelativistic domain where Galilean transformations hold true. Processes that change particle number are natural in relativity so a single-particle equation has limited use there compared to equations like the Klein-Gordon or Dirac equation.
Who interpreted the modulus squared of the wave function as probability density and when did this occur?
Max Born successfully interpreted the modulus squared of the wave function as equal to probability density just days after Schrödinger published his initial paper. This interpretation established the statistical nature of quantum mechanics within the Copenhagen interpretation framework.