Next: The Time-Independent Schrödinger Equation
Up: Brief Review of Quantum
Previous: Wave-Particle Duality
The Schrödinger Equation
In 1925, Erwin Schrödinger and Werner
Heisenberg independently developed the new quantum theory.
Schrödinger's method involves partial differential equations,
whereas Heisenberg's method employs matrices; however, a year later
the two methods were shown to be mathematically equivalent. Most
textbooks begin with Schrödinger's equation, since it seems to have
a better physical interpretation via the classical wave equation.
Indeed, the Schrödinger equation can be viewed as a form of the wave
equation applied to matter waves.