14	Quantum weirdness Schrödinger’s Equation

 

 

 

 

What does it say?

The equation models matter not as a particle, but as a wave, and describes how such a wave propagates.

Why is that important?

Schrödinger’s equation is fundamental to quantum mechanics, which together with general relativity constitute today’s most effective theories of the physical universe.

What did it lead to?

A radical revision of the physics of the world at very small scales, in which every object has a ‘wave function’ that describes a probability cloud of possible states. At this level the world is inherently uncertain. Attempts to relate the microscopic quantum world to our macroscopic classical world led to philosophical issues that still reverberate. But experimentally, quantum theory works beautifully, and today’s computer chips and lasers wouldn’t work without it.