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by solid_fuel
2 hours ago
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> Isn’t the wave function only discrete when we measure it? No. > The field is the continuous state so nothing has to jump through anything. No. > For example the hydrogen wave function does not tell us where the electron will be located, only where most likely will be located. What is discrete about that? Read what I wrote again. The wave function itself is continuous but the jump between states (aka between wave functions) is discrete. This is because energy is quantized and does not exist in continuous quantities. The transfer of energy in quantum systems is therefore discrete, which is the whole reason it is called quantum mechanics. |
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What exists between the wave functions?
> This is because energy is quantized and does not exist in continuous quantities.
"Quantized" in quantum mechanics means that a physical quantity can take only a discrete set of values rather than any value from a continuous range.
Yes, energy is quantized because we see it separate from a continuum. Because we SEE it as separate from a continuum does not mean it is separate from any continuum. This is the theory of everything is wave in a nutshell.
Since you have another theory, that the wave function can have properties of a particle and a wave, so you disagree with me. To me, the wave function only shows the properties of a wave, after you have made a measurement, the probability of what you have measured suddenly changes to 1, and the wave function appears as a particle, but still has the properties of a wave, which are there, but ignored.