Quantum Chemistry 3.4 – Interpreting the Wavefunction

Short lecture on the meaning of the wavefunction.

The Born interpretation of the wavefunction in quantum mechanics is that the square magnitude of the wavefunction is proportional to the probability of measuring the particle at that position in space. In general the wavefunction can be complex, thus the probability is proportional to the wavefunction times it complex conjugate. Normalization requires that the integral of the probability density function over all space is equal to 1, a 100% probability that the particle is somewhere within the domain of the wavefunction. For a small region, the probability of finding the particle is the wavefunction square magnitude times the length of the region.

Notes Slide: http://i.imgur.com/hqmBVc2.png

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