I remember from introductory Quantum Mechanics, that hydrogen atom is one of tho
ID: 1374319 • Letter: I
Question
I remember from introductory Quantum Mechanics, that hydrogen atom is one of those systems that we can solve without too much ( embarrassing ) approximations.
After a number of postulates, QM succeeds at giving right numbers about energy levels, which is very good news.
We got rid of the orbit that electron was supposed to follow in a classical way ( Rutherford-Bohr ), and we got orbitals, that are the probability distribution of finding electron in space.
So this tiny charged particle doesn't emit radiation, notwithstanding its "accelerated motion" ( Larmor ), which is precisely what happens in real world.
I know that certain "classic questions" are pointless in the realm of QM but giving no answers it makes people asking the same questions over and over.
If the electron doesn't follow a classic orbit, what kind of alternative "motion" we can imagine?
Is it logical that while the electron is around nucleus it has to move in some way or another?
Is it correct to describe electron motion as being in different places around nucleus at different instants, in a random way?
Explanation / Answer
The problem is that you're thinking of the electron as a particle. Questions like "what orbit does it follow" only make sense if the electron is a particle that we can follow.
But the electron isn't a particle, and it isn't a wave either. Our current best description is that it's an excitation in a quantum field (philosophers may argue about what this really means - the rest of us have to get on with life). An electron can interact with it's environment in ways that make it look like a particle, e.g. a spot on a photographic plate, or in ways that make it look like a wave, e.g. the double slits experiment, but it's the interaction that is particle like or wave like, not the electron.
If we stick to the Schr