- #1
fox26
- 40
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My textbook in elementary Q.M. stated that orbital electrons in an atom must have stationary state
wavefunctions. Was this just a simplification, the truth being maybe that their wavefunctions can be
nonstationary for a little while, but soon decay into stationary ones? I’ve seen an answer, somewhere,
that if an orbital electron were not in a stationary state, its wavefunction would be a superposition of
wavefunctions one of which would be a wavefunction which would decay into a lower energy
wavefunction. However, if such a nonstationary wavefunction ψ1 were equal to such a decay-prone ψ2 + some other ψ3, then any stationary ψ4 would also be a superposition of wavefunctions one of which would be such a decay-prone wavefunction, e.g., ψ4 = ψ2 + ψ5, where ψ5 = ψ4 - ψ2, so the same objection would apply to ψ4 being a stable wavefunction of an orbital electron. What is the correct answer?
wavefunctions. Was this just a simplification, the truth being maybe that their wavefunctions can be
nonstationary for a little while, but soon decay into stationary ones? I’ve seen an answer, somewhere,
that if an orbital electron were not in a stationary state, its wavefunction would be a superposition of
wavefunctions one of which would be a wavefunction which would decay into a lower energy
wavefunction. However, if such a nonstationary wavefunction ψ1 were equal to such a decay-prone ψ2 + some other ψ3, then any stationary ψ4 would also be a superposition of wavefunctions one of which would be such a decay-prone wavefunction, e.g., ψ4 = ψ2 + ψ5, where ψ5 = ψ4 - ψ2, so the same objection would apply to ψ4 being a stable wavefunction of an orbital electron. What is the correct answer?