Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger (12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961) was an Austrian physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics. He is best known for formulating wave mechanics and the Schrödinger equation, which describes how the quantum state of a physical system evolves. The equation, together with the concept of the wavefunction, became one of the central formalisms of non-relativistic quantum theory.

Schrödinger's work provided a wave-based description of particles such as electrons, offering a counterpart to the matrix mechanics developed by Werner Heisenberg. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation, iħ ∂ψ/∂t = Hψ, and the time-independent form for stationary states yield energy eigenvalues and probability distributions. His methods were applied to a wide range of problems, including the hydrogen atom, molecular systems, and solid-state physics, and they remain standard tools in physics and chemistry.

In 1933 Schrödinger was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Paul Dirac, for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory.

In 1935 he proposed the thought experiment known as Schrödinger's cat, illustrating the seemingly paradoxical nature of quantum superposition when applied to macroscopic systems and highlighting issues surrounding measurement and classical reality. Schrödinger advocated a realist view of the wavefunction, contrasting with some interpretations within the Copenhagen framework.

Beyond quantum mechanics, he explored the connection between physics and biology in What Is Life? (1944), a book that discussed statistical mechanics and inheritance. Schrödinger died in Vienna in 1961; his work shaped both theoretical physics and the broader understanding of quantum theory and its foundations.