wave function

American  

noun

Physics.

1. a solution of a wave equation.

2. (in quantum mechanics) a mathematical function, found by solving a quantum-mechanical wave equation, that is used to predict the outcome of measurements on physical systems.

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wave function British  

noun

1.  ψ.  physics a mathematical function of position and generally time, used in wave mechanics to describe the state of a physical system

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wave function Scientific  

1. A mathematical function used in quantum mechanics to describe the propagation of the wave associated with a particle or group of particles. The wave function is a solution to Schrödinger's equation, given the boundary conditions that describe the physical system in which the particle is found. The square of the function evaluated at a given point in space is proportional to the probability of finding the particle in the immediate vicinity of that position.

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Example Sentences

Johannes’ overseer is no fan of “metaphysical rubbish,” which is where the young man’s energies are directed, particularly toward the universal wave function that suggests the existence of multiple realities.

From Los Angeles Times

Dr. Yunger Halpern then further dashed my hopes of gathering up all my proteins and high-tailing it to a different branch of the wave function: “If it’s really our whole world that is put into this superposition such that a whole copy of the world is on one branch, one possibility, a whole copy is another possibility and so on, then the worlds can’t communicate.”

From Salon

Science fiction writers tend to borrow the term “multiverse” from cosmology but apply it to concepts of multiple universes that are more directly inspired by quantum mechanics, with the universes being different branches of what’s called the wave function, which will come in handy later.

From Salon

The wave function, mentioned above, is a mathematical description of the quantum state of this confusing bit of universe.

From Salon

Maybe in the better branch of the wave function I’m heading to there won’t be so many haters.

From Salon