Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...

192 CHAPTER 42. COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION
a legitimate scientific concept. In other words, it does not exist! Schrödinger
writes in the 4th article:
The wave-function itself cannot be given a direct interpretation in threedimensional
space, as in the one-electron problem, because it is a function in
configuration space, not in real space.
The wave equation apparently exists as a string of symbols on piece of
paper or computer screen, but a wave-function as a well defined mathematical
object satisfying the equation, does not seem to exist. What are the
consequences of Kohn’s insight? Is it important, or of marginal interest?
Let’s seek an answer.
Lets start with making clear that there is a difference between saying
”golden mountain” and a physical mountain made out of gold. Just by
pronouncing the properties of something, it does not magically bring what
you describe into physical existence, unless you are magician.
As soon as Schrödinger had formulated his formally multi-dimensional
wave equation acting in a 3N-dimensional ”configuration space”, heated debates
started with Bohr , Heisenberg and Born on how to interpret the wavefunction
in physical terms. Born came up with a probabilistic interpretation
which forcefully was advocated by Bohr and Heisenberg into the Copenhagen
Interpretation :
the square of the modulus of the multi-dimensional wave-function is a
probability distribution of the configurations of N interacting particles.
Schrödinger objected to any talk about ”particles” since his equation
was a wave equation and not a particle equation, and thus objected to the
Copenhagen Interpretation leading into the cumbersome concepts of waveparticle
duality, wave-function collapse and complementarity.
But Schrödinger had no better interpretation of the multi-dimensional
wave-function and thus was overpowered in particular during a visit to Bohr’s
institute in Copenhagen in September 1926 as described by Heisenberg:
• The discussion between Bohr and Schrödinger began at the railway station
in Copenhagen and was tried on every day from early morning to
late night....It will scarcely be possible to reproduce how passionate the
discussion was carried from both sides....After some days Erwin became
ill with a feverish cold. Bohr sat on the bed and continued the argument:
”But surely Schrödinger, you must see”. But Erwin did not see,
and indeed never did see, why it was necessary to destroy the space-time
description of atomic processes.