what kind of wave is the wave function ,does it represent the motion of a micro mass?

Answer 1

It's the square root of a four dimensional probability distribution. the integral over a certain region and time of PSI(t,r) x PSI(t,r)* drdt gives you the odds of finding whatever the function is describing at a particular region in space and time.

When some operator is applied to it such as the Hamiltonian H,

Int [ PSI(t,r) x H x PSI(t,r)* drdt ] or

the function then returns the energy, momentum or other value of the system described by the wave function


PS. I hated the book

Answer 2

In quantum mechanics the wave funtion is a second order partial differential equation. It can look like a lot of things. Basically you use it to determine probability of finding a particle in a specific region at a particular time. Or you can find the probability of momentum, but not momentum and position at the same time. To make a long answer even longer, it represents the state of a particle. Nick, if that book comment was directed at me, I completely agree, it was terrible.

Answer 3

It is one way to describe what you get when you need something which has particle properties or wave properties, depending upon the experiment you do. It appears to be a fairly accurate fundamental description of matter in its tiniest constituents. In other words, it describes something rather beyond the everyday imagination of matter--really something more akin to how you might think of light.