Schrödinger’s Waves: Propagation and Probability

Abstract

This chapter offers a reassessment, from the perspective of this study, of Schrödinger’s work, especially of his concept idea of quantum waves, as it extended from Max Born’s 1926 interpretation of Schrödinger’s wave or ψ-function in terms of probability to Bohr’s complementarity and then to the viewpoint of modern-day quantum information theory, especially in its Bayesian version. Section 5.1 gives a general introduction to the subject of quantum waves. Section 5.2 discusses those aspects of the old quantum theory and Heisenberg’s matrix mechanics that help place Schrödinger’s work in its proper historical context. Sections 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5 consider Schrödinger’s wave mechanics as a wave theory of subatomic processes. I close with a discussion of the concepts of quantum state, quantum entanglement, and quantum information, via the cat-paradox paper. These themes will be developed in Chapters 6, 7, and 8.