Historical Meaning of the Schrodinger Equation

Donald C. Chang

Shan Gao

Iwo Białynicki‐Birula

The problem of the linearity of the Schrödinger equation is described from a historical perspective. It is argued that the Schrödinger picture on which this equation is based cannot be retained in relativistic quantum theory. A closer analysis of realistic experiments might offer a clue how to modify the evolution equation for the state vectors in quantum field theory.

Thomas B. Andrews

Aurélien Drezet

In this note, we discuss a historical point regarding Schrödinger's discovery of the famous quantum wave equation in 1926 following de Broglie's fundamental works published in 1923-1925 regarding the introduction of matter waves. Drawing on the work of historians and personal analysis, we show that de Broglie was very close to the discovery of the Schrödinger equation (at least for the stationary one-electron problem).

Brian P. Anderson