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In quantum physics, a wave function (or wavefunction) is a mathematical description of the quantum state of an isolated quantum system. The most common symbols for a wave function are the Greek letters ψ and Ψ (lower-case and capital psi, respectively). Wave functions are complex-valued. For example, a wave function might assign a complex ...
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory that describes the behavior of nature at and below the scale of atoms. [2]: 1.1 It is the foundation of all quantum physics, which includes quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science. Quantum mechanics can describe many systems that classical physics cannot.
A fundamental physical constant occurring in quantum mechanics is the Planck constant, h. A common abbreviation is ħ = h /2 π , also known as the reduced Planck constant or Dirac constant . Quantity (common name/s)
Wave functions are not always the most convenient way to describe quantum systems and their behavior. When the preparation of a system is only imperfectly known, or when the system under investigation is a part of a larger whole, density matrices may be used instead.
Quantum mechanics is the study of matter and its interactions with energy on the scale of atomic and subatomic particles.By contrast, classical physics explains matter and energy only on a scale familiar to human experience, including the behavior of astronomical bodies such as the moon.
The property of spin relates to another basic property concerning systems of N identical particles: the Pauli exclusion principle, which is a consequence of the following permutation behaviour of an N-particle wave function; again in the position representation one must postulate that for the transposition of any two of the N particles one ...
wave functions describing quantum systems using position or momentum variables and; the more abstract vector quantum states. Historical, educational, and application-focused problems typically feature wave functions; modern professional physics uses the abstract vector states.
In quantum mechanics, a quantum state is typically represented as an element of a complex Hilbert space, for example, the infinite-dimensional vector space of all possible wavefunctions (square integrable functions mapping each point of 3D space to a complex number) or some more abstract Hilbert space constructed more algebraically.