Wave Mechanics: Early Developments

William Hunter McCrea

A review of The Historical Development of Quantum Theory, Volume 5; Erwin Schrödinger and the Rise of Wave Mechanics. Part 1 Schrödinger in Vienna and Zurich 1887–1925, and Part 2 The Creation of Wave Mechanics; Early Response and Applications. By Jagdish Mehra and Helmut Rechenberg. (Springer, 1987.) Part 1 [Pp. xviii+336.] £32·40 ISBN 3540 96284 0. Part 2 [Pp. 367–980]. £48·50. ISBN 3540 96377 4. This volume is dedicated to the memory of Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) on the centenary of his birth.

Erwin Schrödinger

Zhiqiang Huang

This paper get a general survey of advances in Wave Mechanics.The development of Wave Mechanics goes back to ancient times.The principle of least action is the source of Wave Mechanics,so it is the mother of several principles.Erwin Schrdinger was the greatest contribution scientist of Wave Mechanics,secondary was Louis de Broglie.The Schrdinger equation not only can treat the movement of microscopic particles,but also can analysed some of the macroscopic scientific problems.There's no time for Schrdinger to study the non-linear Schrdinger equation(NLS),but de Broglie devoted oneself to the study of nonlinear Wave Mechanics,and established contact with the solitary waves.At present,the most research works involve the nonlinear differential equations in mathematics,but ignore the physical meaning.In the sciences of waves,the study of electro-magnetic waves are important field,many problems demand clarification.From the Wave Mechanics point of view,we must integrate the classic electro-magnetic wave equation with the Quantum Mechanics wave eqution,the isolated discussion age of classic fields and waves was extremely early ended.

Louis de Broglie

Myron Wyn Evans, Jean Pierre Vigier

Hugh Everett

Before writing a first draft of the long thesis, Hugh Everett wrote three short papers, often refered to as his minipapers, for John Wheeler to review. This minipaper, ultimately called "Probability in Wave Mechanics," develops the basic premise of Everett's thesis stripped of its formalism, but laced with explanatory metaphors, such as splitting amoebas that share overlapping memories until diverging into separate futures recorded as consistent histories. There are several handwritten drafts of this minipaper and two typed versions, one turned into Wheeler. The present document is one of the handwritten documents, found in the early drafts file.