Recent content by brtcobalt

It may just be that this is a 1955 edition and a bit dated, but I'm trying to understand the mathematics of the time and get a history of math to understand the progression in physics over time.

I'm referring to ODE, PDE, functional analysis, operator theory, and vector analysis. I could use a broader understanding of all applications, but I'm reading Methods of Mathematical Physics by Courant and Hilbert and the suffix Eigen seems to have variable definition. I guess...

thank you both. I guess in the future I should say "how are Eigenstates used in physical applications". Both explanations were enlightening, but if anyone else wants to chime in then please do; there are never too many ways to understand something. I take it that Eigenfunctions are just that...

I understand how to calculate all three of these, but what is their physical function. How do they physically manipulate the environment we are trying to describe through mathematics? Please don't use any formulas to explain this. The formulas are easy, the physical meaning is what I'm...