The equation predicted bound states of the atom in agreement with experimental observations. The equation was postulated by Schrödinger based on a postulate of Louis de Broglie that all matter has an associated matter wave. The Schrödinger equation gives the evolution over time of a wave function, the quantum-mechanical characterization of an isolated physical system.
Given a set of known initial conditions, Newton's second law makes a mathematical prediction as to what path a given physical system will take over time. Ĭonceptually, the Schrödinger equation is the quantum counterpart of Newton's second law in classical mechanics. It is named after Erwin Schrödinger, who postulated the equation in 1925 and published it in 1926, forming the basis for the work that resulted in his Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933. : 1–2 Its discovery was a significant landmark in the development of quantum mechanics.
The Schrödinger equation is a linear partial differential equation that governs the wave function of a quantum-mechanical system. ( Newton's dot notation for the time derivative is used.) Schrödinger's equation inscribed on the gravestone of Annemarie and Erwin Schrödinger.
