Wave function ($\psi (x,t)$)

A wavefunction is the position representation of a pure state. In the one-dimensional model used here, $\psi (x,t)$ takes values in the complex numbers, and the Born rule givesThe probability density $\rho$ has units of inverse length; the wavefunction has units of inverse square root of length. A value of $\rho$ at a point is not itself a probability: probabilities come from an integral over a region. For the infinite square well ground state, $\rho (L/2)=2/L$, whereas the probability of the exact single point $L/2$ is zero. The interesting question is how much probability a finite interval contains.

Two wavefunctions differing only by a global phase represent the same pure state. Relative quantum phases between components of a quantum superposition affect matter-wave interference, so retaining the full complex number amplitude is essential. This scalar description covers a particle without active spin degrees of freedom; a general electron wavefunction can have two spin components, with the position probability density obtained by adding the squared modulus of each component.

Separation of variables in a central potential writes a wavefunction as $R_{nl}(r)Y_l^m(\theta ,\varphi )$. With normalized spherical harmonics the radial factor satisfies ${\int }_0^{\infty }{r}^2|R_{nl}{|}^{2}dr=1$. The reduced radial function is $u=rR$, with normalization $\int |u{|}^{2}dr=1$; the two functions have different behavior at the origin. For a regular Coulomb eigenstate, $R_{nl}\propto r^l$ near the origin.

A single-particle wavefunction used as a mode of a many-particle description. An orbital can include spatial and spin variables; a spatial orbital specifies the spatial part. Orthonormal orbitals define creation and annihilation operators. Occupation of one normalized orbital by every boson gives a Hartree product state, while antisymmetrized occupation by fermions gives a Slater determinant.

An ordinary scalar wavefunction assigns one complex amplitude to each physical configuration. In polar coordinates without an additional twisted boundary condition, the points $(r,\varphi )$ and $(r,\varphi +2\pi )$ are identical, so the angular factor must be periodic. An angular eigenfunction $e^{im\varphi }$ therefore requires integer $m$. This scalar orbital condition does not rule out half-integer intrinsic spin.

The Fourier transform in the title represents a one-dimensional state in the wavevector basis. Its probability density is $|\varphi (k){|}^2$, normalized by $\int |\varphi (k){|}^{2}dk=1$ when $\int |\psi (x){|}^{2}dx=1$. For physical momentum $p=\hslash k$, the density per unit momentum is $|\varphi (p/\hslash ){|}^2/\hslash$. A confined stationary energy eigenstate need not be a momentum eigenstate.

A top-hat wavefunction is constant on an interval and zero elsewhere. It has a uniform position distribution and a sinc function momentum amplitude. Its discontinuous edges place it outside the finite-kinetic-energy domain of the free Hamiltonian. Smooth-edged localized packets can approximate its position profile while having different momentum tails.

The momentum density of a top-hat wavefunction decays as an oscillatory $1/p^2$ envelope. Its momentum second moment therefore diverges, although the probability density itself is normalizable. The central diffraction-lobe width is not the standard deviation. Even the first moment requires care: the symmetric principal value is zero, but the absolute first moment diverges logarithmically.

The wavefunction is the probability amplitude of a quantum state in the generalized position basis. For a scalar particle on a line, the position operator multiplies by $x$ and the momentum operator acts as $-i\hslash d/dx$ on their appropriate domains. This makes the canonical commutation relation $[x,p]=i\hslash$ explicit.

A position or set of positions where a wavefunction vanishes. Its Born rule position probability density is also zero there. For a one-dimensional bound state, counting interior nodes distinguishes successive energy eigenfunctions; hard-wall endpoint zeros are usually counted separately.

A wavefunction with extent $a$ and many nearly equally spaced internal nodes of a wavefunction has local wavevector $k\sim \pi n/a$. Thus $⟨K⟩={\hslash }^2\int |{\psi }^{\prime }{|}^2/(2m\int |\psi {|}^2)$ scales as ${\hslash }^2{n}^2/(m{a}^2)$. Exact coefficients require the envelope and boundary conditions. An order-one node-count offset is needed for low states: a nodeless localized state still has positive kinetic energy by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

Wavefunction normalization makes the total Born rule probability equal to one. In an orthonormal basis of energy eigenstates, $\psi ={\sum }_n{c}_n{\varphi }_n$ is normalized precisely when ${\sum }_n|c_n{|}^2=1$.

For a proposed infinite square well mode $A\sin (n\pi x/L)$, the integral of its squared modulus is $|A{|}^{2}L/2$. Thus wavefunction normalization requires $|A|=\sqrt{2/L}$; choosing $A$ real and positive fixes a convenient global phase. For the equal quantum superposition $({\varphi }_1+{\varphi }_2)/\sqrt{2}$, orthogonality makes the integrated cross term zero, leaving $1/2+1/2=1$. The cross term can nevertheless be nonzero locally: normalization constrains total probability, not the shape of its probability density.

A matter wave is the quantum wave associated with a material particle. Its phase can interfere after coherent paths recombine.

In the position representation, a matter wave is described by a wavefunction: a complex number probability amplitude, with detection probabilities given by the Born rule. A localized wave packet combines different momenta; its envelope can move while its individual quantum phase crests move at another speed. Neither curve is a literal mechanical oscillation of material along a particle's path. The de Broglie phase harmony explains the historical route to $\lambda =h/p$; the relativistic matter-wave velocities distinguish the two speeds. The Davisson–Germer experiment and the Thomson electron transmission diffraction experiment connect that spatial quantum phase to measured electron diffraction.

In the 1923 note Waves and Quanta, Louis de Broglie proposed a periodic process associated with rest energy, remaining in phase with a wave along the moving particle's path. He distinguished the internal frequency slowed by time dilation from the wave frequency based on total energy.^[ref] The proposal developed into his 1924 thesis.^[ref] In the 1929 lecture The wave nature of the electron, he reconstructed the argument using a Lorentz transformation.^[ref]

Here is that quantum phase argument in modern notation. Set ${\omega }_0=m{c}^2/\hslash$ in the rest frame. A Lorentz transformation to a frame where the particle has velocity $v$ givesAlong $x=vt$, proper time is $\tau =t/\gamma$, soThis is the harmony: evaluating the spatial wave at the moving particle gives the slower clock phase. At fixed $x$, its angular frequency is instead $E/\hslash =\gamma {\omega }_0$. Since $k=p/\hslash$, the de Broglie wavelength follows as $\lambda =2\pi /k=h/p$. The proposed clock was a theoretical construction, not an observed mechanical vibration.

For a one-dimensional free particle with $m>0$ and $p>0$, take the positive total energy from the relativistic energy-momentum relation:A fixed plane wave quantum phase obeys $kx-\omega t=\text{constant}$. Its phase velocity is thereforeFor a narrow wave packet centered at $p_0$, expand its dispersion relation as $E(p)\simeq E(p_0)+E^{\prime }(p_0)(p-p_0)$. In the Fourier inversion integral building the wave packet, the envelope then depends on $x-E^{\prime }(p_0)t$. Thus its group velocity isThe superluminal phase velocity follows a repeating phase marker; it does not describe a localized signal or superluminal transport of energy. Higher derivatives of the dispersion relation produce wave packet spreading, so the translated-envelope argument is a narrow-band approximation. For $v=0.6c$, the Lorentz factor is $1.25$, $p=0.75mc$ and $E=1.25m{c}^2$: the group velocity is $0.6c$ while the phase velocity is $5c/3$.

The total-energy convention matters. Define $\psi =e^{im{c}^{2}t/\hslash }\Psi$ to remove the common rest energy from a wavefunction $\Psi$ with total-energy time dependence. ThenThis is exactly the free-particle momentum convention used by the Schrödinger equation here. Removing a common time-dependent global phase changes the reported phase velocity, while leaving the de Broglie wavelength, relative spatial quantum phases and group velocity unchanged. Adding $m{c}^2$ again to a total energy would count the rest energy twice.

Alongside the 1927 Davisson–Germer experiment, George Paget Thomson developed an independent transmission test. Alexander Reid first used celluloid; Thomson used thin metal films. A narrow electron beam crossed a film about $10^{-6}\mathrm{cm}$ thick, reaching a photographic plate perpendicular to the beam. Rings appeared. Accelerating voltages of $20$–$60\mathrm{kV}$ set the de Broglie wavelengths; metal structures known from X-ray diffraction allowed quantitative comparison. A downstream magnetic field deflected ring-forming electrons like those passing through holes, identifying the carriers as electrons rather than X-rays. Celluloid's uncertain structure limited its quantitative interpretation.^[ref]

The Davisson–Germer experiment uses crystal reflection and angular electric current scans; this transmission camera records a spatial pattern behind the specimen. Both probe interference in electron diffraction, with different specimen preparations and readouts. A developed photographic plate records accumulated detections, not a direct image of the wavefunction.

Why rings? In an ideal film containing many small crystals with uniformly distributed orientations, a family of lattice planes with spacing $d$ can satisfy Bragg's law at every azimuth about the incident beam. First-order elastic scattering then forms a cone of opening half-angle $2\theta$, where $2d\sin \theta =\lambda$. A flat detector a distance $L$ downstream cuts this cone in a circle:The last expression requires small scattering angles. It explains a useful control: hold the specimen and camera distance fixed, increase accelerating voltage, and the ring radii should shrink with the electron accelerating-voltage wavelength. It predicts positions, not intensities: preferred crystal orientations, film thickness and repeated quantum scattering can alter a real pattern.

For a chosen example, take $L=0.200\mathrm{m}$ and $d=0.200\mathrm{nm}$. The exact relativistic electron accelerating-voltage wavelength gives $\lambda =8.589\mathrm{pm}$ at $20\mathrm{kV}$ and $4.176\mathrm{pm}$ at $80\mathrm{kV}$. The corresponding exact ring radii are $8.594\mathrm{mm}$ and $4.176\mathrm{mm}$. These are calculated examples with chosen spacings and camera distance, not Thomson's measurements. The higher voltage lies outside the range quoted from his lecture, deliberately illustrating a prediction rather than reconstructing his data.

Matter-wave interference occurs when coherent spatial branches of a particle's wavefunction recombine and their relative quantum phase changes the detection probabilities.

For equal-speed nonrelativistic matter waves in an interferometer with signed enclosed vertical area $A$, a uniform gravitational acceleration gives the displayed leading-order phase difference. In a rectangular device, the horizontal paths differ in gravitational potential energy by $mgh$ for a time $\ell /v$, so their phase difference has magnitude $mgh\ell /(\hslash v)$. Assumptions include negligible fractional changes of speed, matched unperturbed optical paths and a consistent treatment of the beam splitters. The Colella–Overhauser–Werner experiment uses neutron interference to test this gravitational phase.

The de Broglie wavelength is the distance over which a matter wave accumulates one full spatial quantum phase cycle in its propagation direction:Here $h$ is the Planck constant, $\mathbf{p}$ is the momentum, and $\mathbf{k}$ is the angular wavevector. The scalar $p$ in $\lambda =h/p$ means the positive momentum magnitude, not a signed component. Reversing a momentum reverses the wavevector without making the wavelength negative. At zero momentum there is no finite spatial phase period: the limiting wavelength diverges.

This relation makes microscopic diffraction accessible with particles: increasing the momentum shortens the wavelength until it is comparable with the spacings in a crystal scattering problem. The electron accelerating-voltage wavelength gives a practical way to tune this scale, while the Davisson–Germer experiment tests it by comparing electron diffraction directions with independently known crystal geometry. The same relation applies to neutral particles in a neutron interferometer; electric charge is not a requirement for a matter wave.

The wavelength belongs to the wavefunction, not to a sinusoidal path of a particle. A free-particle momentum convention makes the distinction especially clear: a plane wave has a rotating complex quantum phase but a constant probability density. A localized wave packet contains a range of momenta and therefore generally has a range of wavelengths, rather than one exact spatial period.

A material particle carries a quantum phase whose wave vector and angular frequency obey $\mathbf{p}=\hslash \mathbf{k}$ and $E=\hslash \omega$. Interference and diffraction test this relation; a localized particle requires a wave packet.

For a free particle of mass $m>0$ in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, choose the potential energy zero and writeApplying the momentum operator $-i\hslash \nabla$ returns $\mathbf{p}\psi$; this fixes the sign convention. The angular frequency is measured relative to this chosen energy zero. Adding a constant energy changes only a time-dependent global phase, leaving the spatial de Broglie wavelength unchanged. No rest-energy term is included in this nonrelativistic quantum mechanics convention.

The plane wave has $|\psi {|}^2=|A{|}^2$ and probability current $\mathbf{j}=(\mathbf{p}/m)|A{|}^2$. Its real part can be drawn as a sine or cosine, but that graph is a component of a probability amplitude, not a transverse displacement. On infinite space this is a generalized momentum eigenstate, not a state satisfying wavefunction normalization. A narrow wave packet instead moves with group velocity ${\nabla }_{\mathbf{k}}\omega =\mathbf{p}/m$; the phase velocity $\omega /|\mathbf{k}|=|\mathbf{p}|/(2m)$ is not its transport speed.

The equality of canonical momentum and kinetic momentum here assumes a field-free region with the magnetic vector potential chosen zero. For a charged particle in a magnetic field, the kinetic momentum is $\mathbf{\Pi }=\mathbf{p}-q\mathbf{A}$. An arbitrary canonical phase gradient must not then be substituted into $m\mathbf{v}$; the free particle formula needs its stated assumptions.

Let an electron start with negligible kinetic energy and move through an increase $U>0$ in electric potential. Its electric charge is $q=-e$, where $e>0$ is the elementary charge, so the decrease in potential energy is $eU$. In a field-free region after acceleration,This is an electron formula, not a universal conversion from voltage to wavelength. It assumes negligible initial kinetic energy, negligible losses, and $eU\ll m_e{c}^2$, where $c$ is the speed of light. It describes the de Broglie wavelength outside the crystal; the potential energy inside a material can change the local kinetic momentum.

For $U=54\mathrm{V}$, take $h=6.62607015\times 10^{-34}\mathrm{J}\mathrm{s}$, $e=1.602176634\times 10^{-19}\mathrm{C}$, and $m_e\simeq 9.1093837\times 10^{-31}\mathrm{kg}$. The rounded electron mass is consistent with the 2022 recommended constants.^[ref]The electronvolt is an energy unit: $54\mathrm{eV}$ must be converted to joules before combining it with $m_e$ in SI units. Dimensional analysis checks both steps:The resulting velocity is about $4.3584\times 10^6\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, or $0.01454c$, so the nonrelativistic assumption is consistent. For a larger accelerating voltage, the relativistic energy-momentum relation gives $pc=\sqrt{K(K+2m_e{c}^2)}$, with $K=eU$, while $\lambda =h/p$ still holds. At $54\mathrm{V}$ the relativistic wavelength is shorter by about $0.00264\%$.

Explicitly, the exact special relativity formula and its nonrelativistic quantum mechanics limit areHere $K=eU$ is the gained kinetic energy; the total energy is $E=m_e{c}^2+K$. At $80\mathrm{kV}$, the nonrelativistic quantum mechanics expression gives $4.336\mathrm{pm}$, about $3.84\%$ larger than the exact $4.176\mathrm{pm}$. This difference matters when using electron diffraction ring positions to infer lattice plane spacings.

A neutron interferometer coherently splits and recombines neutron matter waves, allowing path-dependent phases to be measured through the output intensity.

The Colella–Overhauser–Werner experiment observed the relative phase acquired by neutron paths at different heights in the Earth's gravitational field.

A plane wave has constant amplitude and a phase linear in space and time. It is a momentum eigenstate and is not spatially normalizable.

A probability amplitude is a complex number that describes the contribution of a pure state to a specified measurement outcome. For a normalized quantum state $|\psi ⟩$ and a rank-one outcome associated with a normalized vector $|j⟩$, it is the inner product $a_j=⟨j|\psi ⟩$. The Born rule gives the corresponding probability $p_j=|a_j{|}^2=a_j^{\ast }{a}_j$, using the complex conjugate. Thus an amplitude can be negative or complex, while a probability is real and nonnegative. A wavefunction is the analogous position amplitude: its squared modulus gives a probability density, which must be integrated over a region to obtain a probability. ^[ref].

The extra information is the quantum phase. If $a=r{e}^{i\theta }$, its modulus $r$ fixes $|a{|}^2=r^2$, but its angle $\theta$ controls how it adds to another contribution. In the complex plane, picture amplitudes as arrows: add the arrows, then square the resulting length. For coherent contributions $A$ and $B$ to the same outcome,The last term is interference. Adding probabilities first loses it. Contributions with different relative quantum phases can reinforce or cancel even when their individual squared moduli are fixed.

For the qubit quantum superposition $|{\psi }_{\varphi }⟩=(\sqrt{3}/2)|0⟩+(e^{i\varphi }/2)|1⟩$, project onto the plus vector of the Hadamard basis. By linearity, the two contributions combine asHere $|A{|}^2=3/8$ and $|B{|}^2=1/8$, while the interference term is $(\sqrt{3}/4)\cos \varphi$. At $\varphi =0$, the arrows align and the plus probability is $1/2+\sqrt{3}/4\simeq 0.9330127$. At $\varphi =\pi$, they oppose and that probability is $1/2-\sqrt{3}/4\simeq 0.0669873$; cancellation is incomplete because the lengths differ. At $\varphi =\pi /2$, the arrows are perpendicular and the cross term vanishes. The minus amplitude uses $A-B$, reversing the cross term. These are alternate projective measurements on identically prepared copies, rather than a sequence of measurements on one copy.

A global phase multiplies every contribution by the same factor $e^{i\gamma }$, givingIt therefore changes no outcome probability. Changing a relative quantum phase can change the angle between contributions and hence their interference. Keeping amplitudes until the last step makes quantum circuits and matter-wave interference calculable; discarding their angles prematurely discards physically testable information. The Born rule example compares two measurement bases explicitly.

The Born rule connects a quantum state to measurement probabilities. Let $\{|j⟩\}$ be a complete orthonormal basis, finite or countably infinite, for a Hilbert space, and letAn ideal measurement distinguishing these basis vectors returns label $j$ with probabilityThis assignment is a physical measurement rule. Its compatibility with total probability one follows from orthonormality and normalization:The probabilities are the squared moduli, not the amplitudes themselves or the squares $a_j^2$. ^[ref].

If the basis is an eigenbasis of an observable, the reported numerical value is its eigenvalue. Several vectors can share one eigenvalue; the probability of that value is then the sum over the corresponding basis labels. More generally, a projective measurement with orthogonal projections $P_r$ assignsfor a pure state and a general density matrix $\rho$, respectively. This also covers mixed states and degenerate eigenspaces. The Born rule determines outcome statistics; the ideal conditional state change is specified separately by the Lüders rule. See projective measurement for that formulation and its assumptions. ^[ref].

For a worked example, take the normalized qubit quantum stateThe squared moduli add to $3/4+1/4=1$. A computational-basis measurement, equivalently a measurement of the $Z$ Pauli matrix, hasThese probabilities do not depend on the relative quantum phase $\varphi$. Now choose the Hadamard basiswhose vectors are eigenstates of the $X$ Pauli matrix, also used by the Pauli X gate. The new probability amplitudes and probabilities areBoth probabilities are nonnegative and their sum is one. The relative quantum phase becomes visible because the two probability amplitudes add before their squared modulus is taken:

A Hadamard gate followed by a computational-basis measurement realizes these $X$ statistics, since $H|\pm ⟩=|0⟩,|1⟩$, respectively. Compare the two bases using fresh, identically prepared copies: a preceding measurement may change the state. The quantum superposition section shows why replacing the preparation by the mixed state $\mathrm{diag}(3/4,1/4)$ keeps the $Z$ statistics but gives $p_{+}=p_{-}=1/2$ for every $\varphi$.

The usefulness of the Born rule is this conversion from linear algebra to experimental predictions: calculate overlaps in the basis actually measured, then take squared moduli. Its appealing geometry is that changing basis redistributes probability while preserving total squared norm. The same rule relates an energy eigenstate expansion to an energy measurement and a position wavefunction to a probability density.

Born's 1926 paper on quantum scattering interpreted the outgoing-wave coefficients in terms of the probabilities of collision outcomes; a corrective footnote specified proportionality to the square of the amplitude. This is a historical scattering formulation, rather than the general density matrix formula above. ^[ref]; ^[ref].

For an orthonormal basis $\{|e_j⟩\}$ and nonnegative numbers $p_j$ summing to one, the displayed vector is a unit vector and gives measurement probabilities $p_j$ by the Born rule. Conversely, every pure state with those probabilities has coefficients of these magnitudes, with arbitrary phases on the nonzero coefficients. A common change of all phases is a global phase; differences between them are relative phases that can affect measurements in another basis. Zero-probability coefficients vanish, so their phases have no effect.

For a prepared normalized pure state $|i⟩$ and a final projective measurement onto the normalized state $|f⟩$, unitary time evolution gives the displayed probability, by the Born rule. This depends on the preparation, final measurement, and time-evolution operator; it does not assume a classical Markov chain of transitions.

For a normalized wavefunction $\psi (x)$, the probability of a position measurement lying in a measurable set $A$ is ${\int }_A|\psi (x){|}^{2}dx$. It is a spatial-projection probability and differs from an energy measurement outcome probability.

The scattering interpretation connects an incoming preparation to the relative frequency of outgoing directions and final atomic states. Max Born's 1926 paper treats a distant incoming electron and a chemical atom, expands the outgoing wavefunction into final atomic states, and imposes conservation of energy. Its translated correction footnote specifies the square of the coefficient; the modern complex modulus notation below is ours.^[ref]

In his 11 December 1954 lecture, Max Born recalled the difficulty of interpreting bound electrons alone. He instead described an incident electron wave generating an outgoing spherical wave, with direction-dependent squared amplitude determining relative scattering probabilities. Distinct final atomic states describe excitation with corresponding electron energy loss. This is a retrospective account of an interpretation, rather than the report of a new apparatus.^[ref]

The distinction from the modern Born rule matters. The historical question was which collision outcome occurs: a direction of motion and a final atomic state. The general projective measurement formula applies to arbitrary observables, including degenerate outcomes and mixed states; a positive operator-valued measure describes still more general detector statistics. Those formulations should not be read back as the explicit contents of the short 1926 scattering paper. Nor does the scattering interpretation itself supply a rule for the conditional post-measurement state.

Actual experimental settings are described in the Davisson–Germer experiment and the Franck-Hertz experiment. The former scans collected electric current as an electron beam scatters from prepared nickel; changing direction, accelerating voltage and surface preparation probes electron diffraction. The latter uses acceleration through mercury vapor and a retarding collector to infer discrete energy losses from current minima, with vapor density and retarding settings as controls. Angular resolution and surface backgrounds limit the first inference; initial energy spread and collision positions limit the second. These linked experiments supply the preparation, apparatus and readout; the examples below are original calculations, not Born's measured data.

Take nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, a short-range interaction, a fixed heavy target, and a common projectile mass $m$. An incoming plane wave in atomic state $a$ has unit coefficient. In an open scattering channel $i$, the target finishes in a normalized atomic state ${\chi }_i$, and the projectile has positive velocity magnitude $v_i=\hslash k_i/m$. At large distance,Here $\Omega$ denotes direction, $d\Omega$ is a solid angle element, and ${\epsilon }_i$ is an internal atomic energy. Different ${\chi }_i$ are orthogonal. The scattering amplitude $f_{ia}$ has units of length. A closed scattering channel has no propagating outgoing probability current at this total energy.

The incoming probability current density is $j_{\mathrm{in}}=v_a$. The outgoing radial probability current density in channel $i$ is $j_{r,i}\sim v_i|f_{ia}{|}^2/r^2$. Multiplying by the area $r^{2}d\Omega$ and dividing by $j_{\mathrm{in}}$ gives the differential scattering cross-section:The $r^{-2}$ dilution cancels the detector's area growth. The velocity ratio remains: a squared wave coefficient alone is not generally a flux fraction. A differential scattering cross-section has units of area per solid angle, rather than being a normalized directional probability density. For selected scattering events in acceptance $D$, an ideal detector with equal efficiency in all retained channels instead givesThe denominator specifies the event selection; it need not equal one square unit of area. Absolute rates require incident flux, target number and detector efficiency in addition to these relative weights. The next finite-mode model normalizes outgoing probability current to one incoming event and predicts event fractions directly.

Consider one chosen model at a fixed total energy, with two open scattering channels, no absorption and no omitted outgoing modes. Channel 1 leaves the target unchanged; channel 2 excites it. Let $v_1=v>0$ and $v_2=v/2$. For the same projectile mass, conservation of energy then requires a target excitation $\Delta =3m{v}^2/8$. These are hypothetical parameters, not a fit to a particular atom. Each incoming or outgoing mode is normalized to unit probability current; the outgoing modes will have the angular profiles specified below.

Choose the S-matrixThis phenomenological unitary matrix specifies the channel conversion; it is not derived here from an interaction potential energy. For incidence in channel 1, its first column gives the outgoing flux amplitudesTo recover ordinary wave coefficients relative to an incident coefficient one, undo the velocity normalization:Thus $|c_2{|}^2=32/25>1$ is allowed: channel 2 travels more slowly. Its outgoing probability current fraction is $16/25$, not $32/25$. Renormalizing the unweighted squares would give $9/41$ and $32/41$, the wrong probabilities. More generally the ordinary coefficient map is $A=V^{-1/2}S{V}^{1/2}$, with $V=\mathrm{diag}(v,v/2)$; it obeys $A^{†}VA=V$. The conserved quantity is the squared coefficient norm weighted by velocity, which represents probability current.

Now specify an original angular realization of these two outgoing modes, with scattering angle $\theta$ and no azimuth dependence:The first normalization follows from $2\pi {\int }_{-1}^1(1+u^2)du=16\pi /3$, where $u=\cos \theta$. These angular profiles define the modes of this model; they are not asserted to follow from Born's approximation or an atomic potential energy. The joint directional probability densities are

Suppose a detector accepts the cone $D:0\le \theta \le \pi /3$, with full azimuth and unit efficiency. Its angular fractions within the channels areMultiplying the angular fractions by the outgoing flux weights givesFor $1600$ independent incident events, the expected values are therefore $171$ and $256$ accepted detections, compared with $576$ and $1024$ over all directions. The remaining expected $1173$ events fall outside the cone. The chosen incident number makes the expectations integers; actual counts fluctuate. Conditional on a detection inside the cone, the channel probabilities are $171/427$ and $256/427$, rather than $9/25$ and $16/25$. Angular acceptance changes the observed channel proportions even with equal detector efficiencies.

The final atomic states are orthogonal, so ignoring the atomic readout adds the two channel intensities; it does not produce $|b_1{g}_1+b_2{g}_2{|}^2$. Coherent paths that reach the same final state can instead interfere, as the existing probability amplitude and quantum superposition examples demonstrate. The distinction is physical distinguishability of final states, not whether the detector operator chooses to display their labels. Flux normalization and angular integration make the scattering interpretation useful: they turn complex outgoing waves into conserved event weights and then into the statistics of a specified detector.

A normalized quantum state $\chi =\sqrt{q}{\psi }_1+e^{i\eta }\sqrt{1-q}{\psi }_2$ in two orthonormal energy eigenstates returns to its original one-dimensional measurement subspace with probabilityThis follows by applying unitary time evolution to each energy eigenstate, then the Born rule. The relative phase $\eta$ cancels from the return amplitude. Degenerate energies make the probability identically one.

For two orthonormal energy eigenstates ${\psi }_1,{\psi }_2$, let an observable have distinct nondegenerate eigenstates ${\varphi }_{\pm }=({\psi }_1\pm {\psi }_2)/\sqrt{2}$. Starting in ${\varphi }_{-}$, unitary time evolution gives $(e^{-i{E}_{1}t/\hslash }{\psi }_1-e^{-i{E}_{2}t/\hslash }{\psi }_2)/\sqrt{2}$. Its probability amplitude along ${\varphi }_{+}$ is $(e^{-i{E}_{1}t/\hslash }-e^{-i{E}_{2}t/\hslash })/2$. The Born rule therefore gives the stated transition probability. The energy difference determines the oscillation frequency, while a common energy shift has no effect.

Every bijection of pure-state rays that preserves transition probabilities is induced by either a unitary or an antiunitary operator on the Hilbert space.

Because state vectors differing by a quantum phase represent the same ray, a unitary realization of a group action need only satisfy

A projective unitary representation is a projective representation whose chosen representatives are unitary operators. The phase factors disappear on rays.

An ideal energy measurement returns an eigenvalue of the Hamiltonian with probability equal to the squared norm of the state's projection onto its eigenspace. After obtaining a nondegenerate energy, the state is the corresponding energy eigenstate.

A wavefunction is normalizable when the integral of its squared modulus is finite, so multiplication by a constant can make its total probability one.

A probability density is a nonnegative function whose integral over an event gives its probability.

A current in a probability continuity equation. For overdamped drift-diffusion, $\mathbf{J}=\mathbf{v}p-D\nabla p$. This transport definition does not require the quantum-mechanical wavefunction current formula.

The radial probability density $P(r)$ is defined so that $P(r)dr$ is the probability of finding a particle between radii $r$ and $r+dr$. The spherical volume element gives $P(r)=r^2\int |\psi (r,\Omega ){|}^{2}d\Omega$. For a spherically symmetric wavefunction, $P(r)=4\pi r^2|\psi (r){|}^2$; for $\psi =R(r)Y_l^m(\Omega )$ with normalized spherical harmonics, $P(r)=r^2|R(r){|}^2$. Its maximum need not coincide with the maximum of the density per unit volume: a hydrogenic $1s$ state has its largest spatial density at the origin but its most probable radius at $a_0/Z$.

For a nonrelativistic particle of mass $m$, the probability current is

Here $\alpha >0$ and $q,p,\gamma$ are real functions of time. Differentiation in position gives ${\psi }_x=[-\alpha (x-q)+ip/\hslash ]\psi$. The standard probability current is thereforeFor a coherent state moving in a quadratic Hamiltonian, the centre follows the classical equation $\dot{q}=p/m$, so the current is the normalized Gaussian probability density transported at its centre velocity. The factor $\sqrt{\alpha /\pi }$ is essential: omitting it changes the current by a dimensional constant and violates the continuity equation for the normalized density. A spatially constant phase does not affect the current.

Where a nonzero wavefunction can be written as $\psi =\sqrt{\rho }{e}^{i\theta }$, and there is no vector potential, substituting into the Schrodinger probability current gives $\mathbf{j}=\rho \hslash \nabla \theta /m$. The direction of probability flow is determined by the phase gradient rather than the slope of the real part. A plane wave and its complex conjugate have the same real part and density but opposite currents. In a vector potential the gauge-invariant kinetic momentum replaces $\hslash \nabla \theta$.

For a Hermitian local mass coefficient and $H=c\mathbf{\sigma }\cdot \mathbf{p}+V{\sigma }_z$, the density and current obey ${\partial }_t({\Psi }^{†}\Psi )+\nabla \cdot (c{\Psi }^{†}\mathbf{\sigma }\Psi )=0$. A normalized ${\sigma }_x=-1$ interface spinor carries $j_x=-c\rho$ and $j_y=0$.

For a wavefunction satisfying the Schrödinger equation with a real potential,This continuity equation expresses local conservation of probability.

If the probability current of a normalizable wavefunction vanishes at spatial infinity, integrating the probability continuity equation over all space shows that the total probability $\int |\psi {|}^2$ is constant in time.

A Gaussian wave packet is a wavefunction whose spatial amplitude is a Gaussian function. Free quantum evolution preserves its Gaussian form while changing its complex width and spreading its probability density.

Under a quantum harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian, the Heisenberg equations of motion giveSubtract the expectation values, square the first equation, and use the symmetrized covariance $C_0=⟨\{x-⟨x⟩,p-⟨p⟩\}⟩/2$. This yieldsThese moment equations hold for any state with finite second moments; a quadratic Hamiltonian additionally preserves Gaussian wave packets. A coherent state has ${\sigma }_x(0{)}^2=\hslash /(2m\omega )$, ${\sigma }_p(0{)}^2=m\hslash \omega /2$, and $C_0=0$, so its width stays fixed while its center follows the classical orbit. A squeezed coherent state generally has a width that oscillates at $2\omega$.

Let the initial Gaussian wave packet beFourier transforming, multiplying each momentum amplitude by $e^{-i{p}^{2}t/(2m\hslash )}$ and evaluating the Gaussian integral givesIts probability density is a normalized Gaussian with center $x_0+p_{0}t/m$ and width ${\sigma }_x={\sigma }_0\sqrt{1+{\eta }^2}$; the momentum width remains ${\sigma }_p=\hslash /(2{\sigma }_0)$. Its symmetrized position-momentum covariance is $C_{xp}=t{\sigma }_p^2/m$, soThus free spreading preserves equality in the Robertson-Schrödinger uncertainty relation while producing a nonzero quadratic position-dependent phase and a product ${\sigma }_x{\sigma }_p$ larger than $\hslash /2$. More generally, ${\sigma }_x(t{)}^2={\sigma }_x(0{)}^2+2t{C}_{xp}(0)/m+t^2{\sigma }_p(0{)}^2/m^2$, so an initially correlated Gaussian can first contract.