# Significance of Dirac to Wave Mechanics Model

1. Jan 19, 2013

### ky.tan1

If this seems like a homework question please forgive me, but it is merely for understanding and confidence building. I've been reading into the Bohr Model and the Wave Mechanics Model and I read through de Broglie and have proceeded to Schrodinger, Heisenberg and Dirac. At this stage, my mind is fried but can someone please confirm if I have understood their contributions correctly? Schrodinger suggested the existence of orbitals as opposed to orbits. Heisenberg suggested that electron vibration is driven more by the wave nature than the particle nature and that we cannot determine the position of an electron based on momentum as momentum is not associated with electron position. Instead we can statistically estimate where the electron can be 95% of the time. Dirac proposed the 1/2 spins and the -1/2 spins to illustrate the opposite spins of electrons which we come to accept in Pauli's exclusion principle?

2. Jan 19, 2013

### andrien

I do not want to discourage you but Schrodinger and Heisenberg discovered same quantum mechanics in apparently two different ways.but they are same as shown by Schrodinger himself.Schrodinger introduced the concept of wave function and Heisenberg introduced an algebraic form in terms of commutators.Both contain uncertainty principle.Also Dirac has mostly worked to introduce some very convenient notation and maths to simplify quantum mechanics.Dirac also gave an eqn for electron which is called dirac eqn now.

3. Jan 19, 2013

### tom.stoer

Schrödinger invented his famous equation and reale wanted to keep a "cassical description of the atomic world". His hope to get rid of "Quantum jumps". It's not about "orbitals".

Heisenberg invented QM in a very abstract and non-classical way.

It was Pauli who introduced spin already in the old Bohr-Sommerfeld theory. His Pauli equation which introduces spin in the Schrödinger equation was published in 1927. It is the non.-rel. limit of the Dirac equation - which was first published in 1928.

Dirac introduced his rel. wave equation and was the first who discussed antiparticles.

The statistical interpretation of the (sqare of the) wave function was introduced by Born.