The Hydrogen Atom according to Schrödinger’s Wave Mechanics

Owen L. de Lange

Philip R. Wallace

Lü, Jun

Z. Ficek

This chapter considers Schrodinger's model of hydrogen atom and analyzes in details the quantum wave mechanics approach to the motion of the electron in the hydrogen atom. The stationary Schrodinger equation is not easy to solve as it stands, and the whole problem looks rather complicated when expressed in terms of Cartesian coordinates. An essential difference between Bohr's and Schrodinger's models is that there are three quantum numbers, n , l , m , rather than the one number n describing a state of the electron. Moreover, in Bohr's model the atom is, at each instant, in one and only one energy state, that is., at each instant, the state of the atom is definite, but according to Schrodinger's model, the atom can exist in a superposition of states. In other words, the atom can be simultaneously in more than one energy state at a given instant. This is clearly incompatible with Bohr's model.

Hermann Haken, Hans Christoph Wolf

John F. Ogilvie

The solution of Dirac's equation for the hydrogen atom according to relativistic wave mechanics yields for each state a vectorial amplitude function with four components, two large and two small. Each such component has its characteristic surface of constant amplitude, of which we plot several examples. For each state of the hydrogen atom there is both a density of electronic charge surrounding the atomic nucleus and an electronic current circulating about the polar axis; the latter generates a magnetic dipolar moment that agrees precisely with experiment.