Non changing variables in wave function.

[Penguinluons]

Hi. I would like to know which variables in the wave function are constant (in this local context) and which are not. The wave number for instance varies in the article I was reading (WKB approximation). Why is this so? What other variable in the wavefunction can vary?

Please help me as I am young and new to this...

 

[Penguinluons]

Here's the link to the article I was reading

http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qmech/Quantum/node49.html

 

[DrClaude]

There are no "variables" in the wave function. You have a complex amplitude that is position dependent, and that's it.

The WKB approximation is a semi-classical method, which attributes a classical wave number which varies with position, depending on the potential. But it is not an intrinsic value of the actual quantum wave function.

 

[Penguinluons]

There are no "variables" in the wave function. You have a complex amplitude that is position dependent, and that's it.

The WKB approximation is a semi-classical method, which attributes a classical wave number which varies with position, depending on the potential. But it is not an intrinsic value of the actual quantum wave function.

Thanks for your reply... Maybe I phrased my sentence incorrectly. By variables I was referring to κ (Wave Number) and ω. Do these change as the wavefunction evolves?